


Leaving You

by TwicetheTrouble



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, F/M, Summer maiden Raven, Winter maiden Summer, events surrounding Summer's death, i'm mean to qrow, not the main focus of story tho, qrow gets more issues, qrow has issues, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:36:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwicetheTrouble/pseuds/TwicetheTrouble
Summary: Qrow is alone now, but he wasn't always. Just as Taiyang wasn't always a single father. All the events leading to these particular outcomes were the result of one little letter.or in which Qrow is dealt a lot in a relatively short amount of time.*previously posted on Fanfiction .net by me*





	1. A Midnight Stroll

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new story. Well, it's not a new story. I posted it a few months ago on FF.net. I decided to post it here as well because it ended up turning out a lot better than I thought it would. At the time I wrote it, I did a little every day then posted it immediately to the sight, little to no editing. So it ended up having about 70 really short chapters because of it. But don't worry, I'm going to be reposting it here in regular size chapters. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
> ps. Although this is more of an AU than anything, if i turn out right about any of this, I'll be dancing around my house in victory!
> 
> \- - -

            It all started with a letter. One single, unassuming letter that set into motion so much disaster and trouble that there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. All I could do was attempt to lessen the impact it had on those I cared about.

The note itself arrived on a fairly normal day, or as normal of a day you could get at the Xiao Long household. Summer and I were there for a visit before returning to Beacon, finally taking the chance to meet my new niece. She was a little over a year now and this had been our first look at the little blond that wasn’t from our scrolls.

I could tell Raven wasn’t exactly happy about my presence there, her weary eyes and colder than normal attitude were quite obvious, but Tai made up for it with his boisterous tales and an unmatchable number of puns. It was him plus little Yang’s giggles and smiles that made us feel welcome even when my sister was acting less then hospitable.

It just happened to be the last day of our stay that the letter arrived. Tai had brought it in along with the rest of the mail. It looked simple enough, just a tan envelope addressed to Raven in an almost fancy handwriting. What had caught my eyes was the crest stamped on the back, a red gear with a black bird perched in the middle. I recognized it easily, it belonged to our mother.

Seeing that emblem, I immediately had a bad feeling about that letter. This bad feeling only intensified when my sister saw the symbol and promptly left the room to read it alone. You see, a letter from our mother wouldn’t have been the end of the world, I personally wouldn’t want one but Raven was still on good terms with the tribe. But I had heard in my travels that she died in a grimm attack about a week ago, it couldn’t be from her.

I sat at the table, watching the door she disappeared through, waiting for her to return. Tai and Summer were chatting lightly as he attempted to feed Yang without coating the kitchen in baby food. Judging by the mixture of exasperated sighs and amused giggles it wasn’t going as he planned.

“I’ve missed you guys,” he heard Summer said with a chuckle.

“You two could stay longer you know,” Taiyang answered. “I know there’s not a lot of space but we don’t mind sharing.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Ozpin’s expecting us.”

I tuned out of the conversation when Raven walked back in, her face telling me all I needed to know. If her expression was cold before reading the letter, it was worse now. She looked as if she was made of stone, even when looking towards her husband and daughter.

“What do you think Qrow?” Summer asked.

“Sure,” I answered as I continued to study my sister. “I doubt Ozpin would mind us being a bit late.”

 

It was dark that night, the heavy cloud cover making it so that not even the light of our splintered moon made it to the ground. By this time the house was so still that anyone looking in would think everyone was asleep. I knew better.

I leaned up against one of the many trees in the thick forest as I waited. Whatever Raven was planning, it was happening tonight. My sister was impatient and reckless when it came to our family, so even when it would be more reasonable to wait until Summer and I left, she wouldn’t.

I didn’t have to wait long to be proved right when my sister’s silhouette appeared outside the door as it snuck out of the house. I stayed still as she hurried down the stairs and out into the woods, her every step bringing her closer to me.

With the darkness so thick I wasn’t at all surprised that she didn’t see me, instead passing no more than a yard away from my tree. It was then that I finally got a good look at her, in particular what she had in her arms.

You see, I was going to just let her go without a word, or, if I felt like it, maybe just talk long enough to make sure she felt a tad guilty for her actions. Either way I was going to let her leave without much of a hassle, but there was no way in hell I was letting her take Yang away too.

“Out for a stroll, little sister?” I asked, making Raven stop in her tracks. “Looks like it’s going to rain soon, you might just want to forget about it.”

“Why are you here Qrow?” She asked, still facing away from me.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I answered with a shrug. Raven turned around to face me, having no problem finding my location now that she knew to look for it.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true, the thought of you breaking Taiyang’s heart has been keeping me wide awake all night.”

“So you’re here to stop me from leaving,” she said flatly. I sighed as I pushed myself upright so I was no longer leaning against the tree.

“Truthfully, I could care less where you go. But you can bet on the fact that Yang is not going there with you.”

Raven stepped back, the hand not holding her sleeping infant going straight to her weapon. I held up my hands defensively in response, showing her I was unarmed.

“Easy there, sis, I’m not here to fight. I’m simply here to talk some sense into that thick head of yours.”

“Our mother is dead, did you know that?” She asked, her voice hostile. “Of course you did. So you know exactly why I’m leaving, and exactly why Yang needs to come with me.”

“You could always let someone else lead them. You don’t need to follow mother’s footsteps on everything.”

“And who would that be? Only a Branwen can lead the tribe.”

I sighed as I lowered my hands to place them in my pockets so to continue looking as unthreatening as possible.

“I’m well aware of that and since I don’t have a shapely pair of breasts, you’re their only option,” I said with an unamused chuckle. “Thanks the Brothers for the matriarchy.”

“Yang will be next in line,” Raven continued as if I didn’t say anything.

“Yang is a Xiao Long, not a Branwen.”

“She has Branwen blood in her veins, that’s all that matters.”

“You’re missing the point, little sister.”

“We’re twins.”

“The point is,” I said, ignoring my sister’s comment. “She’s not just your daughter, she’s Taiyang’s ‘Sunny Little Dragon’ as well. And tell me, Raven, what happens when a baby dragon goes missing? That’s right, the daddy dragon gets upset and hunts down the one that took her.”

Raven didn’t say anything, her mouth set in a glare.

“He will follow you to the ends of Remnant to get her back. There’s nowhere you and the tribe can go that he will not follow.”

“You really think I’m going to leave my own daughter behind simply to make a clean getaway?”

“Yes, I do,” I stated simply. “I’ve known you since before we were born. I know you care more for the tribe then you ever could this small family you’ve created.”

Silence was my answer as I ran a hand through my hair, slightly exasperated.

“You have to choose, Raven. You can’t have them both.”

She glanced at her daughter for a moment, a look of indecision crossing her face. When she turned back to me she looked cold once again. Without a word she stepped forward, holding the sleeping infant out for me to take.

I picked her up awkwardly, my untrained arms accidentally jostling her awake in the process. Looking down at her I watched her blink sleepily at me before dozing back off once again.

“Thank you,” I said, looking back at Raven. “You made the right choice. It would have been better if you stayed too but I know you won’t.”

“You shouldn’t either,” Raven answered.

“The tribe doesn’t care for me, going back would be useless.”

“I’m not talking about the tribe,” she stated. My eyes narrowed as I realized what she meant. “If you really cared for her, you’d leave. You’ll only hurt her in the end.”

“I don’t need advice from you, nor do I want it.” I turned away, beginning my small trip back into the house. “Goodbye sis. Don’t die out there.”

“Qrow,” Raven called after a while, making me stop. “Don’t tell Tai.”

“Don’t tell him what? That you went back to the tribe? That you tried to take his daughter with you?”

“Any of it.”

“Feeling a little guilty, are we?” I asked as I turned to look back at her. She glared at me.

“It’s none of his business,” she said, only to get an unbelieving look from me. “He doesn’t need to know.”

“Fine, I won’t tell him,” I said, turning back to the house once again. “I’ll keep your secret as always.”

“Thank you.”

I chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake up my niece.

“I must be going crazy. I could have sworn that I heard you thank me.”

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes before disappearing into her portal.

Shaking my head, I began walking carefully back towards the house. If I was lucky I might be able to get Yang back to her crib without waking either her or Tai up. But, as I started up the stairs I was dutifully reminded that I wasn’t known for my luck. She woke up with a start, her large purple eyes staring at me.

“Go back to sleep,” I whispered to her as I got to the deck. “It’s not time to get up yet.”

Yang blinked at me once, looking as if she was trying to figure out who I was.

“It’s alright, I’m your Uncle Qrow. You know me,” I said, trying to keep her calm. Instead she took a deep breath. “No, no, no, don’t-”

Yang let out an ear-piercing howl that would have woken all the neighbors, if Tai had any.

“-Cry. Damn it, I’m not very good at this,” I muttered to myself. I tried to rock her but it only made her cry even louder.

Of course, it had to be right then that Taiyang comes bursting out the door looking ready to bust some heads. He might have actually looked intimidating if not for the corgi themed pajama bottoms and the most severe example of bed head I’ve ever seen.

“Calm down, Tai, it’s just me.”

“Qrow? What are you doing?”

“Obviously trying, and failing, to quiet down your daughter without waking the household,” I answered. “Here, since you’re awake, maybe you’ll have better luck.”

I passed Yang over to her father to see her quiet down considerably.

“I figured that’d be the case.”

It took a few minutes for Tai to get Yang to stop crying completely. By then her eyelids were looking very heavy as if she was on the verge of falling asleep.

“I’ll admit it, you surprised me Tai,” I said as I watched the two interact. Tai looked away from his daughter to give me a confused glance. “When I heard that Raven was pregnant I was worried. I didn’t think my sister would be a very good mother even if she wanted to, her only example was our own and she wasn’t the best. Then that child had you as a father? The school prankster and well known lady’s man? Truthfully, I didn’t have much hope for you either.”

“Glad to hear you had so much faith in me,” he said sarcastically.

“Hey, I’m just saying that you’ve turned into a great father. Yang will be proud to call you hers.”

“Thanks Qrow,” he said with a smile. “That means a lot.”

“It looks like Yang’s about ten seconds away from falling back asleep. You might want to get her back to her crib.”

“You’re right,” Tai stated before starting towards the door. He had only taken a few steps when she stopped. “Oh, have you seen Raven? She wasn’t in bed when I got up.”

“She’s probably out for a walk,” I answered after a moment. “You know how restless she gets when she can’t sleep.”

“Another trait you two share?” Tai joked.

“Something like that,” I answered.

“Well, I really should be getting her to bed.” Tai smiled down at his daughter who was now completely unconscious and drooling on his shirt. “Good night Qrow.”

“Night Tai,” I said back. I turned to face the woods yet again, leaning against the railing as I watched the night unfold. The door opened behind me as Tai no doubt brought his daughter back to bed, having no idea how close he was to not having her at all.

It was best this way. If he knew what Raven had been planning to do, his heart would break more than it was already going to. The less he knew, the less it would hurt him.

After a few minutes, Qrow heard the door open again.

“Oh, and make sure to lock up when you and Raven are done,” Tai said from the doorway. “Don’t want to let Grimm in the house.”

“Like Grimm are going to be deterred by a lock,” I chuckled lightly to myself.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’ll lock up. Promise.”

“Alright,” he answered with a yawn. The door shut once again, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I might not like Raven’s way of doing things, but she was right about one thing, I should leave. It was dangerous. Any moment my semblance could act up, making something happen, and it would be my fault. If I cared for any of them like I claimed I would stay away.

But I was happy now, truly happy for the first time in my life. I had friends that didn’t mind me being nearby, a beautiful niece that seemed to like me, and a woman that I was hopelessly in love with. How could I just leave all that behind?

I shook my head, expelling the thoughts. I didn’t need to be second guessing my life right now. Tomorrow was going to be a trying day to begin with, especially if I don’t get any sleep before then.

I straightened up and stretched for a moment before heading inside. I shut the door and locked it before heading towards the living room where Summer and I were staying.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I entered the room to find her curled up on the floor. For whatever reason she was laying on her blanket while wrapped up in her cloak. It was a little odd since when I slipped out an hour ago she was out cold on the sofa.

Kneeling down in front of her, I swept a bit of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She stirred a bit, her hand coming up to wrap around mine.

“You’re back,” Summer whispered. “Where did you go?”

“Just for a walk,” I whispered back. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Raven’s letter?” She asked peaking one eye open to look at me. I gave her a confused look in return. “It upset you earlier.”

“A bit,” I admitted tentatively. “But I took care of it.”

“Knew you would.” She smiled sleepily at me, before patting the spot next to her.

I kissed Summer’s forehead before laying down in the indicated spot and pulling her towards me. She rested her head on my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. Once we were settled her cloak was somehow able to cover the both of us. I smiled down at her, noting she looked a lot comfier now then she did alone on the floor.

“Why are you on the floor?” I asked her.

“Didn’t want to fall again,” Summer stated simply, her eyes closed once more.

“Was I not soft enough to break your fall yesterday?”

“Softer than the floor,” she muttered. “And warmer.”

“Oh so now I’m your pillow and space heater?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then I’m glad to be good for something,” I whispered to her, making her hum in amusement.

I began running my fingers through her hair as she dozed back off. I smiled as I watched her, still unable to get over how such a dangerous huntress can look so innocent. So small and delicate looking yet I’ve seen her take down hordes of Grimm by herself without a single problem.

She was perfect in every way I could possibly think of, and she was mine just as I was hers. When we were together, my past no longer defined me. I wasn’t just some ex-bandit whose own tribe didn’t even want him, I was her teammate, her friend, her love. She made me feel human for the first time since I was born.

I realized then that there was no way I could have followed my sister’s example. Unlike Raven, I cared for my significant other too much to put her through that sort of pain. She was my world and I would rather die than abandon her.

“I love you Summer,” I whispered as I pulled her closer. “I could never leave you.”


	2. A Tense Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's the new chapter. I'm going to be posting new chapters every day until it's all up. I have it all written and finished but I like spacing out the chapters so that nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

I woke up the next morning to a kiss.

“I swear if that’s you Tai, you’ll regret ever thinking of such a trick,” I muttered, earning a definitely-not-Tai giggle in response. I opened my eyes to see a smiling, and very awake, Summer. “Good morning.”

“I doubt Tai would ever kiss you, trick or not,” Summer replied.

“He might, you never know. After all I look pretty damn sexy in a miniskirt,” I said, getting another chuckle from her in the process.

“Tai would have to go through me to do it and I’m not about to give you up anytime soon.” She gave me a kiss on my nose before standing up. “Anyways breakfast is almost done. You might want to get up before its gone.”

“Will do,” I said as I stretched in place. “What’s for breakfast?”

“You’ll have to get your lazy butt to the kitchen to see,” Summer said with a smile before disappearing out of the room.

“You’re a drill sergeant, you know that?” I called to her as I climbed to my feet. My muscles complained ever so slightly, not being used to spending the nights on hardwood flooring. “What time is it anyways? Dawn?”

“Nope! About 7:30,” she answered from the kitchen. I followed the sound of her voice, running a hand through my messy hair as I entered the room.

“Still too early,” I muttered as I sat down at the table. A moment later Summer placed a hot cup of coffee in front of me.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t up half the night you wouldn’t be so groggy.”

“You know I love you right?”

“Yep!” She answered with a smile before focusing back on the food.

The kitchen lapsed into a comfortable silence, the sound of food cooking and Summer humming was the only thing to be heard. I smiled, relaxing in the chair as I took a sip of my coffee. I couldn’t help but think that a day that started like this couldn’t possibly turn bad.

A yell interrupted the peace, almost causing me to spill my coffee. This was followed by the sound of banging and someone tripping down the hallway. Summer looked up from the skillet with a smile.

“Sounds like Yang’s up,” she said with amusement. “I don’t think she likes being cooped up very much. Reminds me of a young Raven.”

“She’s her daughter after all,” I replied, though there was no amusement in my tone. I stared into my coffee, not really seeing it as I remembered the events of last night. Gone now was the illusion that this could be a good day, how could it when my sister left me to clean up her mess.

When I finally looked away from my drink I noticed Summer giving me a worried look. She must have noticed my change in moods, like she always did. She seemed to be about to comment on it when Tai shambled through the door, a now very happy Yang in his arms.

“Morning Tai,” Summer said happily as she set down the spatula. She came around and took Yang from him. “Sit down and I’ll get you some coffee.”

She placed Yang in her high chair, putting a little cereal on the tray to keep her entertained, before heading towards the coffee maker.

“You’re a goddess,” Tai said as Summer placed a cup in front of him. She grinned at him before going back to cooking. Tai took a sip and turned towards me. “She’s too good for you.”

“Don’t I know it,” I replied, swirling the coffee in my mug, suddenly wishing it was something a bit stronger.

Taiyang drank deeply from his mug as Summer turned off the stove and began serving the food. She placed plates full of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of each of us then one next to me for herself. She even placed some scrambled eggs on Yang’s tray for her to eat.

“Is Raven still sleeping? I thought she was usually the first one up,” Summer commented as she sat down in front of her plate.

“I was kinda hoping she was out here,” Tai said a little worried. “You really haven’t seen her?”

“No, not since last night,” Summer answered as I moved my eggs around with a fork. “Maybe she’s out on a walk.”

“I think she went on a walk last night, bout the time Qrow was out.” Tai turned towards me but I couldn’t look at him. “Did you see her come back last night?”

“No,” I answered quietly.

“Do you think something happened?” Summer wondered, placing her fork down.

“I don’t know, but I think I should go look for her.” Tai stood up, draining his cup before heading towards the door.

“Don’t bother,” I told him, making him stop. “You won’t find her. She’s long gone by now.”

“What do you mean Qrow?” Summer asked.

“She left last night, and I doubt she’s coming back.”

There was a strained silence that filled the room, the only thing breaking it up was Yang slamming fists full of cereal into her eggs. I finally looked up at Tai to see a confused look on his face.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Look, I saw her leave last night with a bag over her shoulder and not a single glance back. If she comes home anytime soon I’ll be thoroughly surprised.” I took a swig of my coffee, trying to prepare myself for where this conversation was going.

“Then where did she go? Why did she go?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, my eyes back on my cup.

“Bullshit,” Tai exclaimed. Summer tried to scold him but he just continued as if she didn’t say anything. “You know exactly where she is! You always do. Where the hell is she?!”

“You’re over-exaggerating my abilities Tai. I don’t know everything that happens in Remnant, and I certainly don’t know everything that goes on in my little sister’s head.”

“You knew she was going to leave,” Tai accused. “That’s why you were outside last night and why you weren’t surprised she was gone this morning. So don’t you dare tell me you don’t know where she is.”

“Look Tai, I don’t know where she is because I’m no longer privy to that information. So why don’t you just back the hell off.”

I set my cup down only for it to catch the end of the fork and launch it into the wall near Tai’s head. I took a breath in the silence that followed.

“I think I’m going to eat outside.” I got up from my chair, picking up my plate in my free hand as I did.

“I think that best,” Tai replied flatly as I passed.

I sat on the front steps for a while, my plate sitting next to me completely untouched. It was growing cold alongside my coffee but I couldn’t be bothered to care; the way that fight ended didn’t leave me with much of an appetite.

I didn’t need to wait very long before I heard the door open behind me. It was soon closed softly followed by the sound of small, bare feet crossing the deck. I continued to stare out at the forest as Summer sat down next to me, wrapping her arms around my torso. Without looking away I reached my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

We didn’t say anything for a while, after all there wasn’t much to be said. We both knew how this conversation would go, she would try to convince me that it wasn’t my fault and I would counter it. When all was said and done, all it would do would make us both more upset then they already where. It just wasn’t worth the trouble and we both knew it.

“Is Tai alright?” I asked after the long silence.

“Right now, I think he’s in shock,” she replied quietly. “It never crossed his mind that she would just leave like that.”

“She was always a flight risk, she was just really good at pretending she wasn’t,” I said with a sigh.

“He loves her,” she whispered after a moment. “Do you think she ever really loved him?”

“I don’t know,” I answered just as quietly. “My sister’s always been a mystery. There’s no way of knowing who she really holds in her heart, or even if she has one.”

“Will he be alright?”

“Eventually,” I answered after a moment. “It might take a while but he’ll be fine.”

“Good,” she said as she snuggled closer, laying her head on my shoulder. “I still don’t think we should leave him alone.”

“You’re right,” I said. “But I doubt he’d want me to be anywhere nearby.”

“He’s just upset right now. He doesn’t actually blame you, you know.”

“Regardless, I shouldn’t stay around,” I told her. “Ozpin’s waiting for our report anyways. If I fly over there, fill him in on everything and then head right back. It should at least give Taiyang a few days to cool off.”

“You’re coming back, right?” She asked tentatively.

“Of course.” I placed my head on top hers, squeezing her shoulder a bit to reassure her. “I’m not my sister, Summer. We might be similar in many ways but abandoning people we care about is not one of them.”

“I know, but I still worry.”

“I’ll always come back, Summer,” I whispered to her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “That’s the one thing you can count on.”

“You better make it quick then.” She reluctantly let go of me and before sitting up straight. “Can’t leave a girl waiting.”

“I’ll be the quickest bird in the sky, promise,” I told her with a smirk.

“I’m going to hold you to it,” Summer said smiling back at me before leaning forward to plant a small kiss on my lips. “Just don’t fly so fast that you crash into Ozpin’s windows again.”

“That was one time, and in my defense it was dark.”

Her smile widened at that. We kissed once more before I climbed to my feet, ready to leave.

“I’ll see you in a few day,” I promised, giving her one last smile before changing form and flying away.


	3. An Unexpected Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks for all the kudos and bookmarks. I'm glad you guys are liking this little story of mine. : ) Almost forgot to post tonight. But i remembered so here I am.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

It only took me about two days to get to Beacon, which wasn’t that bad considering it would have been five if we had walked. It probably would have taken less time than that if I didn’t need to stop to sleep and eat. Luckily I got there about midday so I wouldn’t need to wait.

The school was quiet fairly quiet which probably meant that the students were still in class. I landed outside the front door, changing back to normal before my feet hit the cobblestones. I had learned long ago that though it was quicker just to fly in through Ozpin’s window, it wasn’t always more convenient. He didn’t always leave them open and, as a bird, my eyesight wasn’t good enough to see if he closed them.

I made my way through the halls towards Ozpin’s office, at one point barely dodging a green haired student as he ran way too quickly through the halls.

When I finally got to his office I opened the door to find four people turn to look at me instead of just one. I looked at each of them for a moment, trying to figure out what sort of meeting I interrupted this time.

Ozpin sat at his desk with an extra serious look on his face, so apparently it was important. Glinda Goodwitch, his fairly new secretary/teacher glared at me, but that came at no surprise, she didn’t particularly like me.

The other two were obviously related, one looking to be an older, much angrier, version of the other. The older one was the current head of the Atlas school and military, Jacob Ironwood, he didn’t really like me either. The younger was his newly graduated son, James Ironwood, he looked like he was trying to be as intimidating as his father but was failing.

“I’ll just wait outside,” I said, starting back out the door.

“No, you should be in this meeting as well,” Ozpin replied, dashing my hopes of avoiding whatever this mess was.

“Damn it.”

I meandered as slow as possible to an available seat before dropping myself unceremoniously into it.

“So, what are we talking about now?” I said as I propped a foot up on Ozpin’s desk to make my chair lean back on its hind legs. Glinda glared at me from next to said desk, I just grinned back. “It can’t be important or ‘Little Jimmy’ wouldn’t be here.”

The younger Ironwood seemed to bristle at the name.

“I’ll have you know I’m a certified hunter now. I graduated top of my class, unlike you,” he said, puffing his chest out like a pretentious peacock. “We’re equal in rank.”

“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots.” I raised my hands over my head in fake fear before dropping them, one to rest on the back of the chair. “See me when you have a few years of real world experience under that pretty title of yours. You might actually be worth something then.”

“He was just leaving,” Glinda pointed out before James could counter.

“He is my son and is on track to be the next head of our military,” Jacob replied stiffly. “He should be allowed access to this information.”

“And he will, but only when he gains your title,” Ozpin replied simply. “This is a secret for a reason General Ironwood. If we told everyone it would no longer be a secret.”

“Yet you let him in your little group.” Jacob gestured towards me with an angry flair. They turned to look at me, making me pause as I cleaned my ear out with my pinkie.

“He was a special circumstance,” Ozpin explained after a moment, turning back towards everyone else.

“He’s been at these meeting with his team since before they even graduated!”

“It was _very_ special circumstances,” I answered with a grin.

The general almost growled as he shot me a glair.

“James, go wait outside,” Jacob ordered. “I’ll be out when we’re through here.”

“Yes father,” James replied. He got up from his chair and stiffly made his way towards the door, obviously trying to hold on to whatever dignity he had left.

“Bye little Jimmy,” I said with a little wave over my shoulder. “Maybe when you’re older we’ll let you at the adult table.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at the sound of him muttering something along the lines of “adult table my ass.” It was so nice to see I was having an influence on the kid.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” I asked again once I heard the door shut.

“Our agenda,” Glinda started as she glanced down at her clipboard. Without looking she used her riding crop to swat my shins, forcing both my feet and the chair’s back onto the floor with a clatter. “is that we have reason to believe that Salem is on the move once again.”

“When isn’t she?” I asked as I rubbed my shins. I gave her a pointed look that she ignored. “She’s always planning something. What else is on the list?”

“Well we also have your mission report and our standard check of each maiden’s location and wellbeing. I would love to add ‘teaching you manner’ to the agenda but I highly doubt that would be concluded in just one afternoon.”

“Sorry to tell you this, but Summer’s been trying to teach me manners since we became partners at Beacon,” I replied, sitting up once again. “And if she can’t do it, no one can.”

“Speaking of Summer, where is she?”

“Tai’s place, making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” I answered. Glinda raised a curious eyebrow, prompting me to continue. “Raven ran off a few nights ago, he’s really broken up about it.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“Not a clue.” There was silence as Glinda gave me a very unbelieving look. “Alright, maybe one clue but it won’t help any, I promise you.”

“So you’re telling us,” General Ironwood started, sounding quite angry. “That you let the summer maiden just up and disappear?”

“Pretty much yeah.”

“But otherwise she’s fine?” Ozpin asked before the lovely general could start B-rating me.

“Completely healthy and unwounded, probably quite happy too now that she’s back home.”

Ozpin nodded in understanding while the other two looked quite confused.

“What do you mean by home?” Glinda asked.

“That’s irrelevant,” Ozpin answered for me. “What about the other three?”

“As I said, Summer’s fine. No injuries. Healthy, for the most part,” I replied, getting a raised eyebrow in return from Ozpin. “She had a stomach bug at the beginning of the week but seemed to have gotten over it by the time I left.”

“Very well, what about our spring and fall maidens?”

“The spring maiden in currently in Menagerie visiting some family she has there,” Glinda said as she consulted her clipboard once again. “She should be back at the end of the month.”

“The fall maiden and her team is on a military mission to clean out a pack of Grimm that have been threatening our northern boarders.” Ironwood replied. “Last we heard from them they were approximately seventy percent done with the task.”

“Very well,” Ozpin replied simply. “Glad to hear they’re all accounted for.”

“How are they all accounted for if one of them is missing?” Ironwood demanded. Ozpin just took a sip of his coffee and continued on with the meeting.

“How did your mission go, Qrow?” he asked after setting his cup down.

“Oh it went great!” I exclaimed with fake cheer. “We absolutely loved having to travel on foot through those swamps. Not only are they full of Grimm but they also seem to work with the bastards too. You don’t know how many times I found my foot stuck just as a Grimm as charging at me. And don’t even get me started on how many shoe’s I lost to that place. The equivalent of three pairs, but all of them for my left foot.”

“As entertaining as that was to hear, I was talking about the results of your mission.”

“Oh, my report,” I said as I scratched my head sheepishly. “Turns out you were right, the western parts of Anima seem to have quite a few more Grimm than last time I went through. Summer and I didn’t even make it to Mistral before there were too many around for us to even get a semi-decent map. We ended up having to turn around and head back.”

“How close to Mistral did you get?” Goodwitch asked as she took notes on her clipboard.

“Not sure, but it couldn’t have been more than halfway.”

“Then that’s where she’s hiding.” Ozpin held his mug up to his lips, but didn’t take a drink. His gazed across the room with such intensity that for several minutes none of us dared to interrupt him.

“Qrow,” Ozpin said as he sat down his mug. He looked towards me, making me straighten up in my seat. “I need you to go back there. We need to know exactly where she is and what she’s doing. She has never needed this many Grimm in one area just to keep herself safe before. Something’s changed.”

“There’s too many, Summer and I could never fight our way through them all.”

“I’m not asking you to fight them, nor am I asking you to take Summer with you. In truth, it would probably be best if you went alone.”

“What? I can’t do that! She’s my partner,” I exclaimed, sitting forward in my chair.

“You yourself said it was too dangerous. We can’t risk the life of one of the maidens, especially so close to Salem.” Ozpin got up from his desk in order to take a look at Glinda’s clipboard. “You’re crow form is ignored by most Grimm, you’re the only one suited for a mission like this.”

“So let me get this straight, you want me to go back to a swamp that’s stocked full of Grimm and fly around as a bird for who knows how long just on the off chance Salem’s set up a hideout there.” I stared down Ozpin he never even spare me a glance. “You do know how long that’s going to take, right? I’ll be lucky if I’m back in six months.”

“It would most likely take closer to a year,” he replied simply. He looked up from the clipboard, eyes locking with mine. “Is that a problem?”

“No, not particularly,” I replied as I sat back, running a hand through my hair for a moment to collect my thoughts. “Will I be able to stop by Patch before I leave?”

“Regretfully no, if what you said was true we don’t have the time to spare.” Ozpin replied.

“Very well,” I said with a sigh. “Guess I’ll just give her a call before I leave. Just to let her know what’s going on.”

“Actually,” General Ironwood interrupted. “That wouldn’t be advisable.”

“Why the hell not?” I turned towards the older man, my eyes narrowing at him. “Are you suggesting she isn’t trustworthy?”

“Your girlfriend may be trustworthy but the scrolls are not,” he replied. “Salem could have them bugged or your call could be intercepted. It would risk the success of the mission to even attempt such a call.”

“Then what do you suggest I do, _General?”_ I wondered sarcastically. “I can’t just up and disappear off the face of Remnant.”

“Your sister did.”

“I’m not my damn sister!” I exclaimed, suddenly on my feet slamming my fist onto Ozpin’s desk.

“Touchy subject?”

“Shut the hell up.”

“The general brings up a good point,” Ozpin replied as he sat back down at his desk. He pulled out a pen and a notebook before placing it in front of me. “I believe the best course of action would be to write her a letter explaining everything. I’ll make sure that it gets delivered within the next few days. Is that acceptable?”

“It’s better than nothing.”

I snatched up the pen and notebook before heading towards the door.

“I’ll be back when I’m done with the letter,” I replied as I opened the door. “I’m leaving right after that.”

I didn’t give them a chance to answer as I slammed the doors shut behind me.

“Did they kick you out too?” I heard James ask. I turned towards him to see that he was leaning against the wall by the door, looking far too smug then he had a right to be.

“I don’t have time to bicker with you Little Jimmy,” I said as I passed by him without a second look.

I needed a quiet, secluded space to write my letter. So basically any of the abandoned classrooms scattered around the school would do the trick. I couldn’t help but smirk when I walked around the corner to find just such a room.

I didn’t bother to dust off the teacher’s desk that I sat down at. I placed the notebook down and opened it to a free page. It took me a while to figure out how to start it, but once I got writing, I didn’t have much of a problem.

_Dear Summer,_

_In no way should this be considered a goodbye letter. I will come back just as I promised, just not as soon as I had hoped. Oz has me going on this urgent mission that could take a while, he’s estimating about a year or more, but who knows. It’s a mission only I can do, so as much as I want to, I can’t take you with me._

_If you want to know more about the mission I suggest you talk to Oz, I’m sure he’ll fill you in as long as you go in person. Apparently any other form of communication isn’t secure enough, hence why you’re getting a vague letter from me instead of a slightly less vague scroll call._

_Anyways, I’ll be back as soon as I can. And I promise to be safe out there._

_I love you,_

_Qrow_

_Ps. I’m going to miss you, more then you know._

I sighed as I reread the letter. I didn’t particularly like how it turned out but I couldn’t find anything bad enough that it was worth rewriting the entire thing. So, even though it was too short and lacked so many details that it hardly made sense, it would have to do.

After ripping the page out of the notebook I folded it up a few times so that it would be able to fit inside an envelope. I then collected Ozpin’s notebook and pen before heading back towards his office.

I entered the room, ignoring the lull in conversation this time as I headed straight towards Ozpin’s desk. I dropped his notebook and pen in front of him before pointing the folded letter an inch away from his nose.

“You’re going to deliver this, right? And soon?” I demanded to know.

“Of course. I was planning to head over there myself this weekend,” Ozpin replied simply.

“That’s almost a week away.”

“Unfortunately I don’t have any free time until then. I do run a school after all.”

I frowned at him for a while before General Ironwood cleared his throat, getting both of our attention.

“I’m heading in that direction tomorrow. I could drop it off.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked skeptically. “You don’t exactly like me.”

“True, but I know from experience that an upset maiden is a dangerous maiden.” He raised an eyebrow when I didn’t automatically hand over the letter. “Your letter will be safe in my hands, I promise.”

I went to hand the letter over, but didn’t let go even once he had his fingers on it.

“If this letter doesn’t make it to her, I swear I will do everything in my power to get you removed from your post. By the time I’m done you’ll be a disgrace in the eyes of the military, and even your own son won’t want anything to do with you. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” he replied. I held onto the letter for only a moment longer before releasing it into his custody.

Spinning on my heels, I heading back towards the door.

“I’m leaving,” I said as I waved at them over my shoulders. “Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone.”


	4. An Eventful Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back. I completely forgot to update this yesterday (oops) so here's yesterday's update. Later on I'll do today's. Also, this is where shit starts to go down.
> 
> Hope you enjoy
> 
> TBL
> 
> \---

Ozpin was right once again. By the time I got the information I was out there to find, almost a year had passed by. Even with being in an almost constant bird form, and all the perks that came with it, it was nearly impossible to get a bead on anything. The trees where too thick for aerial scans to work, and the Grimm weren’t as passive about my presence as they should have been.

But when all was said and done, I found her hideout, which was a small, abandoned town that the swamp had long since taken back. In the two months that I hung around I was able to get a few tidbits of information, all while dodging her companion’s attempts at using me for target practice. Unfortunately, she was acting as cautious as Ozpin was, which meant that I never not a good idea what her plan was, just a few parts, but never the entire picture.

I made pretty good time getting back to Vale, landing at the docks only a few days after I had left Anima. I stood there for a moment, relishing being human once again. I stretched, arms reaching over my head as if I was trying to grab the sky. I probably looked like a psychopath to anyone walking by. After all, no one would assume a filthy, mess of a man, stretching on the docks was anything close to sane.

It would have been nice if my clothes had stayed in good condition when I was traveling as a bird, but that wasn’t the case. When I’m in my bird form they seem to translate into feathers instead of disappearing completely. This means when one of Salem’s asshole companions had gotten a lucky shot, clipping my tail feather, it turned into a fairly large tare in my cloak. I wasn’t very happy about that.

Once I was done stretching, I pulled out my scroll and sent a message to Ozpin that simply said “done.” Figuring he’d know what that meant, I went off in search of somewhere I could buy a celebratory drink.

I didn’t have to look long before I found a new bar that opened up near the airstrip.

“Well what do you know, this one seems to be calling me by name,” I said with a smirk as I read the sign. “Crowbar, is it? I think you and I are going to become good friends.”

 

I sat at the bar for an hour before the stool to my right was suddenly occupied. He ordered a glass of water, more to get the bar keep to leave him alone than anything else.

“Why is it that whenever we’re not meeting in my office, we’re in a bar?” the man asked simply once he was handed his cup.

“Because that’s usually when I’m coming back from a mission,” I replied, sending Ozpin a grin. “Is it a crime to enjoy a celebratory drink once in a while?”

“And how many ‘celebratory drinks’ have you had today?”

“A few.” I finished off my drink before reaching into my coat pocket and pulling out a battered notebook. “Here’s my report. Wrote the information down as I got it so it’s as accurate as possible.”

“That was risky,” Ozpin answered after a moment, taking the notebook anyways. “And what would you have done with it if you had been caught?”

“It only had their stuff in it anyways, wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.” I gestured to the barkeeper for a refill, then waited until he was done before continuing. “The most that would have happened was that they knew someone was watching them. Though, I’m pretty sure they already did considering how little I got.”

“They could have tortured you for information.”

“If you were worried about me giving anything away then you shouldn’t have sent me in the first place,” I replied, giving him a sideways look as I sipped from my drink. “What’s got you wound so tight?”

“Things have been a little, strained as of late.” he said after a moment.

“Let me guess, General Ironwood is giving you trouble.”

“More than usual, yes. The two of us no longer see eye to eye which is causing some, as you said, trouble.” He glanced down at his untouched drink. “It is making me question who I can trust.”

“Well, you can always count on me, Oz.” I patted him on the shoulder as I climbed to my feet. I placed enough Lien on the table to cover both mine and his drinks. “Anyways, talk with you later. I’ve got someplace I have to be.”

 

The ride from Vale to Patch wasn’t too bad considering me and bullheads don’t exactly get along, whether I’m in them or not. At least the engine didn’t fail this time; we did end up getting more than our fair share of turbulence, but I’ve had worse rides.

I probably should have just flown there myself but I’ve had enough of my crow form from my mission. There wasn’t a thing on all of Remnant I could think of that would make me change forms for at least a month. If that meant I had to travel by bullhead to meet back up with my girlfriend, then so be it.

When I landed, I made sure to give the frazzled pilot a good tip. She deserved it after risking a ride with me.

I meandered through the town, enjoying how lazy it seemed compared to the hustle and bustle of Vale. A few of the shop keepers waved as I passed, recognizing me from when our team would actually hang out. Back then it wasn’t rare for the people of Patch to see the four of us chasing each other through town for one reason or another.

I waved back to them but didn’t stop to chat. I was on a mission. There was a girl that had been waiting for me for far too long. I needed to see her again.

Once I got passed the town I climbed into the trees, deciding it would be quicker if I just hopped from branch to branch instead of taking the path. Alright, it might not have been quicker, but after spending a year living among the tree tops, it was a hard habit to shake.

I was only about halfway to the house when I caught sight of them. Even with all the foliage, it was hard to miss that brilliant white cloak of hers. I stopped on one of the branches, smiling as I waited for them to get closer.

The three of them seemed to be making their way to town, probably for some sort of grocery shopping. Summer looked pretty happy as she walked hand in hand with little Yang. The blond toddler, who had grown much since I last saw her, was on her right trying to jump over every crack in the cobblestone path. This slowed them down quite a bit but no one seemed to mind.

Taiyang was walking nearby, some sort of red bundle in his arms. He looked like he was at his wits end about something, but all every time he said something Summer would only laugh.

I was just about to drop down and surprise them when I heard a cry come from their direction. It sounded like an infant but the only one in the group young enough was Yang and she was just as happy as ever. I heard the cry again, bringing my attention to the bundle in Tai’s arms. It was moving, wiggling as if there was something inside the fabric trying to get out.

I all but stopped breathing when I finally got a good look at the bundle to see it was a baby. The infant was young, maybe a few months, and judging by the fact it was crying it’s eyes out, not very happy. But what got my attention the most was its hair, it was black, yet for some reason the ends tapered off into a bright red color. That baby’s hair was just like Summers.

“Come one Summer, can’t you do something?” I heard Tai say once they were within earshot. “She hasn’t stopped crying since we left.”

“You can hold her for a little while longer, Tai. It won’t kill you,” Summer said with a chuckle. “Plus, Yang and I are spending some quality time, aren’t we?”

“YUP!” Little Yang exclaimed as she hopped over another crack.

“But Summer,” he whined.

“You’re the father, you shouldn’t be this helpless,” she replied simply.

Whatever was said next, I missed; my mind was far too busy trying to figure out what I was seeing. Summer had a baby. It was Tai’s. That meant…she didn’t wait. She must have thought I wasn’t coming back, so she moved on, just as Tai did from my sister. They were together. They were happy. And I…I couldn’t stay any longer.

I took out my scroll and sent Ozpin a quick text saying only that “I need a mission” before storing back in my pocket. I transformed into a crow and took off into the sky, not once looking back.

 

After that fiasco, I threw myself into my job, not willing to give myself even a moment to think of what happened. Of course, no matter how much I worked, or how many missions I took, I could never distract myself enough to completely get rid of her. She was always right there, waiting for the moment I relaxed my guard before springing to the front of my mind. The only thing that seemed to help was alcohol.

I didn’t need much, just a drink or two each night just to help rid myself of those lingering memories. It probably wasn’t the best idea to turn to liquor for help, but it beat having to see her smile knowing that she’d never smile at me like that ever again.

So in that way I watched time pass, weeks turning first into months, then years. I hardly noticed as they blurred together, each year that passed was so similar to its previous that it was hardly worth acknowledging the change. To me it felt like one long mission broken up by shots of whiskey, and truthfully, I didn’t see much of a reason to change it.

Unfortunately, my boss had other ideas.

On one particular day, I was in Beacon trying to get another mission when I found only Glinda in Ozpin’s office. She sat on the front of his desk like she owned it, her ever present clipboard in her lap as she went over whatever she had on it at the time.

“Where’s Oz?” I asked as I walked inside.

“Busy,” she answered shortly. “You’ll have to get your mission from me today.”

“You have to be kidding me.”

“Does it look like I’m kidding?” She asked as she glared at me from overtop her glasses. I sighed in resignation as I flopped down into a chair in front of her.

“So what will you have me do this time?” I asked as I took a sip from my flask. I kept it on me in case one of my missions didn’t have a bar nearby, but that didn’t mean I should ignore it when I needed one during the day. And trust me, dealing with just Glinda definitely earns a shot or two. “If I remember correctly, the last time you gave me a mission I was taking a pack of brats to collect tree sap. Wasn’t that a job for the teachers to do?”

“If I had a more degrading task on my list that day, you would have gotten that,” she replied as she looked back at her clipboard. “That’s what happens when you go on so many missions, eventually you run out of good ones.”

“Yeah, whatever. At least they get done,” I muttered back.

“Anyways, there’s a small costal town in the south east that’s having difficulty with Grimm. There seems to be more of them then there normally are this time of year and they’re requesting our help to get rid of them.”

“Obviously, since it’s a mission. When do I leave?”

“This evening.” She flipped a page on her clipboard as I took another sip. “Due to the sheer number of Grimm reported we’re sending you with another Huntsman. They won’t be available until then.”

“No, just no,” I replied, almost choking on my drink. “I work alone for a reason Glinda. Me and teammates don’t get along.

“I’m well aware that it’s been a while since you had a partner to work with. Five years, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Who knows anymore,”

“Regardless, Professor Ozpin believes it’s necessary to have two huntsmen on the mission, therefor two huntsmen there’ll be.”

“This is ridiculous.” I stood up in my chair, waving my flask in emphasis. “I want you to tell him that I said this is ridiculous.”

“Will do,” she replied. I doubted she would actually tell him but it didn’t really matter. “Be to the Eastern hanger by six tonight, there will be a bullhead ready to take both of you two your destination. You should get there just in time to do a night patrol of the area. That seems to be the time period they’re having the most trouble anyways.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, giving her a mock salute with my flask. She finally looked up, giving me an unamused look in return. “I’ll go get ready for the trip. My flask is feeling a little light anyways.”

I turned away to leave when she called to me again.

“Oh, and Qrow?” I glanced back in time to see her waive her previously hidden riding crop before my flask jumped out of my hand and directly into her. “You’ll get this back when you return.”

“Controlling witch,” I muttered to myself as I left the room.

 

Six o’clock took forever to get there, especially without my drinks. My plan had been to stop by a bar until the necessary time but for some odd reason, none of them would serve me. Every barkeep would take one look at me and immediately go pail before kicking me out of their establishment. I was pretty sure who the culprit was after one of them mentioned a scary, blond lady that threatened to take apart their building brick by brick if they served me. So instead I spent refilling my necessities and checking my gear.

I got to the location late, hoping the dreaded machine would have left without me. It was still there, unfortunately. The piolet gave me an annoyed look and motioned for me to climb into the back.

I gave the man a lazy salute before opening the hatch, only to freeze in place. My mind went blank as it processed the presence of a white cloak, and the equally surprised huntress wearing it.

“What are you doing here?” Summer asked.

“Good question.”


	5. An Uncomfortable Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Again. Since I forgot yesterday here's my second update for today. I added something to the story that i didn't want tag because it would spoil it. So you've been warned.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
> \---

The several hour flight to the town was an awkward one, to say the least. We both sat on opposite sides of the bullhead, pretending the other wasn’t there. Or at least that’s what I was doing. She would occasionally try to strike up some sort of conversation but stopped when she realized I wasn’t going to answer.

I ended up losing count of how many times I tried to grab my flask only to realize it wasn’t there. I know it wasn’t as much as I mentally cursed Ozpin and Glinda for setting this up, that’s for damn sure; I lost count of those long before I even went for the flask. The two of them planned this for whatever reason, and to say I wasn’t happy about it would be a gross understatement.

 When the bullhead landed, if you could call dropping a foot to the ground when the engine gave away a landing, I was immediately outside moving away from the vehicle.

“Qrow, wait!” Summer called back. I stopped, glancing behind me for only a moment to make sure she got out alright. When I saw her land safely outside the bullhead I turned away.

“You take the north side; I’ll take the south. If all goes well we’ll meet up at the other side in time to speak with the mayor,” I replied simply.

“And if it doesn’t? Go well, I mean. What if there’s trouble along the way?” Summer asked. “Will I have to deal with it on my own?”

“You know my number.”

“If I call will you show up?” She said, making my hand tighten into a fist by my side.

“I’m not going to let you die,” I said through clenched teeth. Before another word could be passed between up I changed form and flew away.

I took my time getting to the other side of the city, for obvious reasons. I made sure to stop for every Grimm I caught sight of. By the time I got to where I was going, the only Grimm left on my side were the ones too cowardly to poke their noses out of their dens. Unfortunately, slaughtering them all didn’t do much for my mood, it also didn’t make her go away. The only thing it really accomplished was make us one step closer to going home and forgetting this ever happened.

When I arrived at the other gate, Summer was already there. She looked at me impatiently as I dragged my feet closer.

“You sure took your time,” she commented after a moment.

“Where you waiting very long?” I asked.

“No, not really.”

“Maybe next time then.” I walked by her, noticing a pouty frown when I passed. A few seconds later she caught up to me, matching my strides.

“Why are you acting like such a-“

“That must be the mayor,” I interrupted as I pointed towards the wiry man, shifting nervously nearby. “We best go talk to him.”

She frowned again but didn’t press the issue. Instead we walked up to the man, making sure to look as professional as possible.

“You’re the mayor, I presume?” Summer asked nicely. She was always the best at interacting with civilians so I used to let her do all the talking when we had been together. I saw no reason to change that now, even if it brought back a painful sense of familiarity.

“Uh, yes, that’s me. You’re the huntsmen I asked for, right?” the Mayor asked as he fiddled with his hands.

“Yes, my name’s Summer, and you can call him Qrow,” she said, indicating me. “Would you mind telling us a little about the situation? We only had time for the basics before we left.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Basically, there’s too many Grimm for us to take out on our own,” he replied.

“Obviously,” I muttered, getting a glare from Summer in the process.

“They mostly come out at night, targeting the people living in the outskirts.”

“That doesn’t seem too unnatural,” Summer replied. “How many Grimm do you think we’re dealing with?”

“That’s the thing, we don’t know,” he said. “We have a few huntsmen that can normally pick them off pretty well but for whatever reason more keep getting attracted here.”

“It must be a pretty dreary town if it’s attracting so many Grimm,” I commented flatly. “Tell me you at least have a bar.”

“Well, not an official one.”

“There’s your problem right there.”

“Qrow!”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Summer apologized before I could say anything else. “He’s still a little irritable after the flight here.”

“Um, that’s alright,” he said after a moment. “Was it really that bad of a ride?”

“You have no idea,” I told him, getting a sigh from Summer in the process. “So why don’t you point me towards that unofficial bar of yours and I’ll be out of your hair faster than you can say ‘wow, what an asshole.’”

“Ignore him, he’s not allowed to drink on missions anyways.” I glared back at her but she continued speaking as if I didn’t. “You wouldn’t mind showing us our lodgings for the night would you? We’re both a bit exhausted.”

“Oh, no problem. They’re this way.” The mayor pointed down the street a ways. “Just follow me.”

They both started moving farther into town while I headed off to the left. I wish I could say I got away without either of them noticing, but I wasn’t more than a few steps before Summer glanced towards me.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“To find that damn bar,” I answered shortly.

“Ozpin said-”

“I don’t give a damn what Ozpin said! I’m going to find that bar, I’m going to have a nice long drink, and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.”

I was able to take two more steps before columns of ice appeared in front of me, forcing me backwards.

“Ozpin _said_ you weren’t to be allowed to drink on this mission. He also gave me permission to use whatever I had at my disposal to make sure you abided by that rule.” She lowered her hand to her side as I tightened a fist once again. “You need food and sleep, not whiskey and beer.”

“You don’t know the first thing about what I need.”

“Well it’s not liquor, that’s for damn sure,” she said, her face flushing a moment later when she realized what she said. She turned her attention to the mayor once again. “I’m sorry, please continue leading the way. We’ll both follow you this time, I promise.”

 

The next few days were strenuous to say the least. Summer continued to ensure I was kept away from liquor, I’m not exactly sure how she knew my plans but she was always there to thwart them. During the day we’d sleep in our own rooms while at night we’d patrol our own paths. We said very little to each other, only what was needed for the mission to be successful. Truthfully, the only time I felt even a little at peace was when I was disposing of the Grimm.

The mayor was right, there were quite a few getting attracted to the area, as many as I’d take out one night, there’d be more the next night. At the rate this was going we’d have to exterminate all the Grimm on Remnant before they’d stop.

It was the third day we were there that Summer decided that our tactics weren’t working. I was having a peaceful breakfast during everyone else’s dinner when she sat down across from me with her own food.

“We should patrol together tonight,” she mentioned, making me almost choke on my food. “We’re obviously not getting very far on our own when it comes to finding the source of these Grimm. It’s possible simply fighting them is causing us to miss what we’re out there looking for, so maybe we just need two pairs of eyes on each route.”

“Is this some sort of ploy to get me to talk to you?” I asked suspiciously. I put my fork down so I wouldn’t be tempted to try to inhale my food again.

“No, this has nothing to do with you, or me, or even us.”

“There is no ‘us’.”

“It has everything to do with our lack of progress in this mission,” she said, without missing a beat. “I don’t know about you but I’d rather not spend the next month here because we can’t act professional.”

“Fine, whatever.”

“If we end up working things out while we’re out there it will just be a happy coincidence,” she said after a moment. She was looking anywhere but at me, a spoonful of oatmeal already in her mouth.

“You still suck at lying,” I said, a small smirk appearing on my face for a split second before disappearing completely once again. I got up from my chair, getting her attention once again. “I’ll be at the gate.”

 

I waited at the entrance only a few minutes before Summer appeared, fiddling with her weapons belt as she made her way down the street.

“Ready?” I asked when she got close enough.

“Yeah, I think I got everything.” Summer snapped a side pouch closed before finally focusing on me. “Where do you wanna start?”

“We can start on your side. From what you said it was busier than mine, as far as Grimm went.”

“Sounds good to me.”

With a nod I lead the way through the forest, keeping a close eye on our surroundings to keep from being taken by surprise. Both of us kept our weapons sheathed for the time being, finding it easier to carry them in our holsters until we needed them. If any Grimm appeared, we could easily draw our weapons quick enough to take them out.

“So, how’ve you been?” Summer asked after a while, breaking the strained silence that was between us.

“Great. Fantastic even,” I answered, sarcasm only just making itself know.

“Ozpin says otherwise.”

“Then why did you ask?” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes, noting a frustrated pout on her face. “If you’re going to ask questions you might as well ask the ones you don’t know the damn answers to.”

“I wanted to be nice about this.”

“It’s too late for that. Just ask your damn questions and then we can get back to ignoring each other’s existence.”

“Alright!” She exclaimed, letting out a small angry huff as she did. “I’ll start simple then. Why didn’t you come back?”

“I _did_ come back. You and Tai were just too busy playing house to notice.”

“I noticed,” she said simply as she scanned the undergrowth for movement. “Patch doesn’t really have many black birds so I knew it was you. I even tried to call you back but you couldn’t hear me.”

“It’s not like it matters. You two looked pretty damn happy from where I was standing.”

“We were making the best out of what we were given,” she answered with a sigh.

“Oh, I’m sure you were,” I said, making Summer’s head snap back towards me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She demanded. “You left, Qrow! You said you’d be back in a few days but you were gone for a year! You just disappeared off the face of Remnant without a single damn word!”

“Without a word? I sent you a letter!” I yelled back. She looked back at me, confusion taking over the anger on her face.

“What letter?”

I stared at her for a while as I tried to catch up to what she was asking. Both of us had stopped walking a while ago and were now just standing in the middle of the forest, no doubt attracting every Grimm in the area.

“Qrow, what letter?” Summer asked after a particularly long silence. “I never got a letter.”

“I wrote you a letter, telling you about the mission. The general was supposed to have delivered it,” I said slowly. “I guess he didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you just stop by to tell me? Or pick up your scroll and give me a call?” She demanded angrily.

“They wouldn’t let me!” I waved a hand in emphasis. “Some bullshit about not giving away the damn mission.”

“Then why did you give it to him? Out of all of them you gave the letter to someone you didn’t even trust!”

“The bastard gave me his word, which apparently doesn’t mean as much as I thought it did,” I said just as angry as she was, if not more so. “Shame on me for trusting him. Guess coming back to find my girlfriend having had my best friend’s child was just what I deserved.”

“Wait, is that why you left the second time? You saw Tai with Ruby and jumped to conclusions?”

“What was I supposed to jump to?” I demanded my anger rising. “She’s your daughter!”

“Yes but-“ she tried to interrupt but, I wasn’t done yet.

“No buts, Summer! Babies don’t get dropped on doorsteps by long necked birds. They’re made, by a pair of adults.” My fist tightened at my side as I spoke. “From her age at the time I’m going to guess you two didn’t wait very long to ‘make’ her.”

“Qrow, it wasn’t like-“

“How long did you wait? A month? Maybe two? Or where you both cheating even before that. I wouldn’t be surprised if you two were-“

“She’s not even Tai’s!” Summer yelled, stopping me in my tracks. Soon after she spoke, her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth as if surprised at what came out.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked after a moment. She sighed, her hands dropping from her face to search through her weapon pouch.

“Do you remember why my eyes are silver?” She asked out of the blue.

“What does that have to do-“

“Just answer me.”

“They turned silver when you became the Winter Maiden. Apparently it comes with the territory.” I watched her suspiciously as she focused on hear search.

“Do you remember me telling you what color my eyes used to be?”

“Blue, an almost grey blue.”

“Therefore if Ruby inherited my eyes, they would have been blue,” she said as she finally pulled out a small piece of paper. “In fact, if she were Tai’s, that little girl would have had blue eyes regardless. Tell me, Qrow, what color are her eyes?”

I gave her a confused look as she nodded towards the paper in her hand. I took it from her and took a look. It was actually a photo, one of a four-year-old girl with dark hair that somehow faded to a bright red. She was a mess, covered in flour as she attempted to help Summer bake cookies or something. It was an adorable picture, but what caught my attention was the child’s eyes. They weren’t blue, they were red.

“There’s only two people I know that have red eyes,” Summer continued, having taken my shock expression as a sort of answer. “And only one of them can possibly father a child.”

I stared at the picture for a long time, no hearing anything else she had to say. Everything I knew over the last five years was just turned upside down. I felt like a rug was just pulled out from under my feet. I was confused and disoriented and couldn’t figure out which way was up. I was only brought back to reality when Summer placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Are you alright?” She asked once I looked back at her. “I know this is a lot to take in but-“

Before she could continue I dropped the picture and switched forms and flew back towards the town. I could hear her calling my name but I just couldn’t deal with this anymore. I needed time to think, I needed to get away.


	6. A Dreadful Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm back! I have to say thanks for the comments, they really made my day. No joke. And Thanks for all the Kudos and book marks. I'm happy you guys are enjoying it.
> 
> Now, on to business. I'm warning you now there's violence in this chapter. I don't think it's overly descriptive but then again I'm never a very good judge of that. So consider yourself warned. It is quite the fight and I'm sorry for where I leave it. It was the only good point I had that didn't make the chapter overly long or extremely short.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

It only takes me about five minutes to find the town bar; the mayor was right, it was more of a restaurant that served alcohol then an actual bar. Regardless of its official title, I all but fall into a chair and order the largest whiskey they’ll give me at once.

I glanced around the establishment once the waitress left, checking it out along with its patrons hoping for a distraction. It was a small place that had probably been around for a while. The wooden walls looked old as well as much of the furniture. There wasn’t a decoration in sight. The people weren’t much better; they were mostly a group of tired looking men that I could tell weren’t there for the food. Most of them seemed to be farmhands but two of them carried weapons categorizing them as low class hunters.

They didn’t look to be a threat so I ignored them, having way too much on my mind to have to worry about strangers.

A daughter. I had a daughter. A cute, little, red-haired, red-eyed daughter. A daughter that I, through my own idiocy, have never met. If I hadn’t trusted that letter to Ironwood, everything would have been different. So different.

It hurt to think of what those last five years would have been like, full of happiness and love that I would probably never know. Summer had already been my world, she was in my every thought; I had been certain that I would never love like that again. But after seeing Ruby and finding out she’s mine, I know I would have loved her with just the same intensity.

I would have doted on her, probably spoiled her rotten. I would have played with her, no matter how silly they were. I would have taught her everything I knew until she surpassed me in every way possible. Best of all, when my missions where over, I would have had a home to go back to, family waiting for my return.

It could have been beautiful, but between Ironwood’s betrayal and my own moronic stubbornness, it was never going to be.

“Um, are you alright?” The waitress asked as she set down my drink. “You look a little, lost.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, if you need someone to talk-“

“I said I’m fine!” I interrupted harshly. The waitress jumped a bit as the building went quiet at the sound of my voice.

“O-Ok, I’ll leave you be then,” she answered before scurrying off to the back. I felt a little guilty for snapping at her like that, but I’m pretty sure if I didn’t she would have continued to pester me and I just wanted to be alone.

I pulled my drink closer to me as the noise returned to what it had been before. I was just about to take a sip of the drink when the chair across from me moved back only to be filled soon after by one of the hunters. He lounged in the seat as if he had every right being there,

“That wasn’t very nice, yah know,” he said as he set his drink down at my table. “She a sweet girl that’s just trying to help.”

“I don’t need help,” I growled back. I took a sip of my drink before snapping it back onto the table.

“It looked like you did from the way you stormed in here.”

“I just want to be left alone.” I glared at the man only to get a smug smile in return.

“What? A fellow hunter can’t come over and talk business? That doesn’t seem like a very good way to do your job.” He picked up his own cup before taking a large swig from it. “Though neither does getting drunk at a bar during your patrols, but what do I know?”

I took another sip of my drink, hoping the smart ass would just get bored and leave if I stayed silent.

“Anyways, have you found who’s keeping all the Grimm around the area?” he asked. My head snapped up in alarm to see him looking at me over his cup.

“The mayor said they were being drawn in,” I answered slowly, getting an unamused chuckle from the man.

“He’s a mayor; that means he can run the town to be damn near perfect but doesn’t know jack shit about Grimm,” the hunter said as he put down his drink once more. “I’ve been out there every day for the past two months. Each patrol there’s more Grimm than I saw the night before. This is a small town, barely fifty people overall, there’s no way that this amount of Grimm could have been drawn here. Not on their own.”

“So you think someone’s behind it all?” I asked, starting to get a bad feeling about this.

“Only explanation I got. Maybe they’re trying to drive us out, or they’re using them to protect something.”

“Or someone,” I replied quietly.

“Well, I suppose that could be-“ he started to say but I was already in motion. I fumbled with my pocket, pulling out enough Lien to cover my drink before dropping the money on the table and taking off out the door.

There’s only one person that could control that number of Grimm. Salem had to be stopped.

I ran through the streets faster than most thought possible. If Salem was out there, then Summer was in danger. Whatever power Salem wielded, it outmatched Summer’s maiden skills exponentially. There is no way she’d be able to go up against her by herself, or even with me.

I’ve seen her in action only once during my spying mission, a group of thieves tried to rob her while she was in the forest. It took her barely two minutes to kill a dozen men, their bodies left mutilated so badly that I couldn’t tell them apart anymore. It was one of the most disturbing displays I’ve ever witnessed, and I just left Summer with the woman that caused it all.

As soon as I crossed the gateway I shifted, needed to get back as quickly as possible. I needed to get back to Summer so we could leave. If it had just been me, I’d probably stay and play damage control until she moved on, but I couldn’t risk that Salem finding out about Summer’s maiden powers. If that witch discovered that she was the winter maiden, she would stop at nothing to kill her. We couldn’t risk the life of one of the maidens, not on this.

I could hear fighting in the distance, the familiar twang of Summer’s bow among them. I prayed to whatever deity that would listen to let her only be fighting Grimm, that just this once, let me be lucky enough for it not to be Salem.

As I flew into the clearing I was shown exactly why I never count on luck. Summer was fighting Grimm, a large horde of them all aiming towards her. Despite the overwhelming odds she was holding her own, each of her arrows taking out several Grimm a piece. But it wasn’t the Grimm that had me cursing my shitty luck, it was Salem. She just stood there, on the opposite side of the clearing, watching the fight as if it were simply an amusing movie; a movie she already knew the ending to.

I knew I couldn’t beat Salem, even with Summer’s help, but that didn’t stop me from flying across the clearing to fight her. If I distracted her enough, then maybe Summer would be able to get away before things got bad.

I was no more than a few yards away from her when I change form midair, taking a swipe at her with my scythe before my feet ever touched the ground. She didn’t even have to move as one of her pet Grimm all too willingly took the blow. She turned her attention towards me, a look of barely restrained amusement on her face.

“It looks like a little bird has graced ourselves with his presence,” she said, a small smile on her face. “Did you finally decide to stop hiding in my rafters waiting for breadcrumbs? It was starting to get quite annoying.”

I growled in response as I charged at her once again. My attack was thwarted just like the first without even the wind from my scythe moving a hair from her ridiculous hairstyle.

“Now you’re just being rude.” She waved a hand, I watched the hand tensely, waiting for something to happen with it when I was suddenly side tackled by a large Ursa.

I recovered quickly before taking down the large creature with only a single swipe of my weapon. Unfortunately, she had set more than just that one Ursa on me; it fell revealing a hoard of new Grimm whose sole purpose was to kill me.

I fought against the hoard the best I could, taking out as many as I could with each swipe of my scythe. But there were just so many of them, I was losing ground quick. I kept taking steps back in an attempt to give myself room to work. It wasn’t long before I bumped into something rough, startling me. I couldn’t help but look to see what I bumped into and in the split second it took me to see the tree a Beowolf latched onto my leg.

I cried out momentarily before swinging my weapon at the beast, separating its head from its shoulders.

“Qrow!” Summer cried across the clearing. I glanced up at her, my gaze catching her worried one. “Qrow, are you-“

“Get out of here!” I yelled back as another Grimm lunged at me, making me slice it in two. “Run!”

“But-“ she tried to say as her bow twanged once again.

“Don’t worry about me just go!” I spared another glance at her, still seeing her confliction.

I was about to say more, probably remind her who she had to live for when another Ursa swatted at me. Its large paws caught my shoulder, throwing me across the clearing and making my weapon fly even farther. My ribs screamed in pain as I landed on the hard ground, tumbling for quite a ways before I stopped.

I laid there, unsure of what to do next. I needed to get up, but wasn’t sure which way that was anymore. Everything was still spinning like the time my team convinced me to go on one of those spiny carnival rides. Maybe, like the ride, if I stayed where I was long enough the conductor would make it stop and let me off. I’d thank the man and then go back to my team in order to get my money from Tai. The bastard should know by now that making bets with me were completely stupid. Like I was going to throw up on a stupid contraption like-

“QROW!” Summer’s voice cut through the haze, making my eyes snap back open before I even realized they were closed. She was in danger. I _needed_ to get up. Now.

My arms shook under the strain of my weight as I began lifting myself up. I didn’t get far as a sharp stiletto was placed on back, forcing me back into the dirt.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Salem asked from overtop me. “The fun’s just beginning.”

My response was cut short as something sharp was forced through my shoulder, pinning me to the ground. I gritted my teeth, unwilling to let even a painful shout pass my lips. I didn’t want to give her the pleasure.

“Why don’t you stay there for a while.” Her foot was removed from my back as she walked forward into my line of sight. She had a small grin on her face as a shadow-like blade appeared in her hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back to take care of you, my pesky blackbird, after I get rid of that nuisance of a weed.”

“No,” I whispered, my eyes wide in shock. Salem’s smile only widened as she began walking towards Summer, her blade dragging across the ground at her side.

“No.” My voice was louder this time as I tried to get her attention again. But she didn’t look back, she just kept walking.

“Stop.”

The Grimm parted for their mistress finally making Summer notice her advance.

“Stop!”

I struggled against my tether, my opposite hand grabbing it by the blade. I pulled at it even as the sword bit into my hand.

“Leave her alone!”

I struggled even harder as Summer fully released her maiden powers. It didn’t even deter Salem.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!”

Summer attacked Salem with an ice storm, an attack her Grimm where more than happy to protect her from. Salem grinned, her pets attacked once again. She raised her weapon.

“NO!”

Summer fought.

Salem stabbed.

Summer fell.

I screamed.


	7. A Sad End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! So, you know how this story has a tag saying "Events surounding Summer's death"? As you can probably guess from the last chapter, it comes into play here. I'm sorry ahead of time.
> 
> Hope you enjoy regardless,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

I reached towards her as she fell, straining against the blade that had me pinned. I couldn’t see her anymore among the pack of Grimm, but I could still hear her pained breaths. For whatever reason the monsters weren’t attacking her anymore, instead they just surrounded her as if waiting for the witch’s next order.

I could still see Salem’s smile as she eyed her blood stained weapon. She looked far too proud of herself for me to ignore.

I had only one way to get Summer safe. It was a trick my sister showed me in case I ever decided to go back home, a trick I never expected to use. It only had one destination, but it would at least be safer then here. Anywhere was safer then here.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up off the ground, my shoulder moving painfully up the blade until I ran into the hilt. I took a quick breath before lunging myself forward, hoping that my semblance would help me for once. The blade snapped with a metallic crack, shards of blade flying every which way, many leaving their marks on me as left.

I stumbled up onto one knee as Salem turned back towards me, the sound taking her by surprise. Her eyes didn’t even have time to widen before I darted forward, grabbing my weapon as I went. I put it away quickly and took off towards the Grimm hoard. I didn’t have the time to fight them so I simply leaped over top them, landing in the center of the group.

I scooped up Summer in one arm as I reached into my pocket with the other. Salem’s eyes narrowed as I pulled out a red wood pendant, a gear carved into its surface.

“And what do you think-“ she started to say, but before she could finish her question I placed my thumb on the pendant, making it glow bright red for only a moment. A split second later a red, sparking portal opened up under my feet, swallowing us both.

I landed painfully on my injured leg, making me hiss in pain as I accidentally dropped Summer in the process. She let out a small, distressed noise but that was about it.

We had landed in a cave somewhere on the planet, that was certain; the exact location a little less so. I knew it was somewhere close to where my sister and her tribe were staying, but we could be halfway across the world without even knowing it. Which was a good thing since we were running from the witch.

Another small moan brought me back to reality. Summer was injured. As quickly as possible I struggled to her side, examining the wounds she acquired. Most of them were superficial, just scratches and nip marks from the Grimm, but the stab wound on her abdomen was bleeding profusely.

“Shit!” I cursed as my hands hovered over her wound. I needed to stop the bleeding. Apply pressure to the wound. And bandages. Definitely bandages.

With shaking hands, I searched my pockets and pouches for something to use to cover her wound. Finding nothing even close to suitable I grabbed a hold of my cloak and ripped about a foot of the fabric off the end. It wasn’t bandages but it would have to do.

I wadded up the cloth and pressed it against the wound, applying as much pressure as I could. Unfortunately, with Salem’s broken blade still imbedded in my shoulder, my one arm wasn’t feeling very cooperative.

Summer’s face scrunched up in pain as she tried to move away from my hands.

“No, don’t move,” I warned, getting her attention in the process. “I’m trying to stop the bleeding. You can’t move.”

“Qrow.” Her voice was not much more than a raspy whisper. She looked a bit confused, but it was hard to tell.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I answered, even if it wasn’t much of a question. “The dumbass.”

“You have a sword in your shoulder.”

“And you had a sword in your stomach. We must make quite the pair. A pair of matching bookends, I’d think.”

“You need it patched.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t bleed out anytime soon,” I told her as I watched the red fabric begin to turn a much darker shade. “I’m worried you will though. So stay still.”

Summer looked down at the wound, obviously noticing that the amount of blood there was not a healthy one. She frowned.

“I’m, going to die, aren’t I?” she asked quietly.

“No, you’ll be fine. Fixed up in no time,” I answered immediately.

“I’m going to die all because I was…being stupid.” She winced again as she took a breath. “I thought I could take her down on my own. I thought my power would be enough.”

“Quiet down, you’re going to hurt yourself. Just stop talking and focus on breathing,” I tried to tell her but was thoroughly ignored.

“She appeared out of nowhere. Just nowhere. She wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“I know,” I replied quietly, hoping she’d quiet down if I agreed. Unfortunately, it had to opposite effect.

“It was supposed to be simple. We fight some Grimm, you and I get things ironed out, everyone goes home happy. That’s what we planned, not…not this.” She was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, a small sob catching in her throat. “She, she ruined everything. Now I’m going to die-“

“You’re not going to die!” I exclaimed, startling her into silence. “So just stop talking, and especially stop talking about her. In fact, just forget about the bitch all together. She’s not a threat here.”

“You’re right, she probably killed me to get my powers. I shouldn’t give her the satisfaction.”

“That’s not what I-you won’t die!” I looked her in the eyes so she would listen to me. “I won’t let you. You’re going to live, and be happy, and go back to those two little girls of yours. They’re waiting for you Summer. You can’t let them down.”

“Yang and Ruby.”

“They’ll be lost without you.”

“Will you come? To Patch to see them?”

“Of course, I think I’ve missed out on enough of their lives as it is,” I said, getting a smile out of her. “As soon as we can travel we’ll head right back there. Then we can spoil those girls rotten; we’ll play with them all day long, teach them cool tricks, we can even feed them cookies for breakfast.”

“Tai won’t like that,” Summer whispered happily. “They’ll be sugar high all day.”

“Good, then our games will be even more fun for all of us.”

“Ruby thinks Tai’s her father,” she said after a moment. “Yang thinks I’m her mother.”

“I…I figured as much,” I answer quietly. “Probably best not to confuse them. I can just be their uncle. Their crazy, fun Uncle Qrow that gets into more trouble than they do. What do you think?”

“They’ll love it.” She smiled faintly, her eyes drifting shut.

“Hey, you can’t sleep now,” I said, trying to keep the desperate tones out of my voice. “You have to stay awake. Look, I think the bleeding’s slowing down.”

I couldn’t tell if I was telling the truth or not; my hands were coated with her blood all the way to my wrists while the fabric had soaked up enough of it to turn deep red.

“Ruby wants, to be a huntress,” Summer said even quieter, her eyes still shut. “Will you teach her? Keep her from being, as foolish as her mother?”

“Why would I have to train her if she has you?”

“Please?”

“I…I promise,” I relented after a moment, making her looked a bit relieved. “I’ll train her so well nothing will be able to keep up with her. She’ll be years ahead of the other students. And, whatever’s out there too strong for her to handle, I’ll get rid of myself. I won’t let anything harm her. How does that sound, Summer?”

There was no response.

“Summer?” I nudged her but she didn’t move. “Summer wake up!”

I removed my hands from her wound, placing them on her shoulders. I gave them a bit of a shake, trying to roust her. It didn’t work.

“Wake up!” I yelled louder as I shook her shoulders with even more force. But nothing happened. She felt like she was no more than a life size rag doll in my hands. I placed a tentative hand on her neck but felt no pulse under my fingers.

“Please wake up,” I said much quieter. “Please just wake up.”

I used my uninjured arm to pick her up so I could hold her close.

“Please. I promise I won’t cause trouble,” I whispered to her as I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears at bay. “I’ll stop drinking so much, I’ll be there for you and Ruby, I’ll even try to get along with Tai again. I’ll teach Ruby everything I know, I’ll stop throwing myself at missions, I promise I won’t go after Ozpin and Glinda for setting this whole thing up. I’ll do it all, I promise, but please, _please_ , wake up.”

She didn’t give me an answer, but I continued anyways.

It wasn’t until my throat was hoarse from pleading that someone finally came across the two of us. I didn’t even notice at first, as I was too wrapped up in making deals with Summer’s corpse to hear their entrance.

“Brother,” a voice said, surprising me. I looked up for a moment to find Raven kneeling in front of me, a worried look on her face. “What are you doing?”

“I-I, I need to wake her up,” I told her in a rough whisper.

“She’s dead.”

“She c-can’t be. She’s just…sleeping.”

“She doesn’t have a pulse.”

“It will come back. I just n-need to wake her up. She’ll be fine.” I turned back to Summer, not even noticing how pale she was now. “She’ll be fine.”

“Qrow.” Raven grabbed my chin, forcing me to look her in the eyes. She looked heartbroken, and scared for some reason. It surprised me because I never thought she could even have those emotions, let alone show them. “She won’t be fine. She’s gone. You have to let her go.”

“I-I-I can’t-“

“If you don’t let her go you’ll die too,” she interrupted. I was silent for a while but Summer knew I wasn’t so easily convinced. “Please, let her go. Our team already lost one member today, don’t make us loose another. Don’t make me lose my brother.”

“I, couldn’t save her,” I said quietly. Raven let go of my chin as I looked back at Summer. It wasn’t Summer anymore, just a stiff, bloody corpse. “She was my partner and I couldn’t save her.”

“I know,” Raven whispered back.

I started to put the body down gently, my sister helping me when my weak arms complained about the movement. A moment later she was by my side, looping my arm across her shoulders and helping me up. My legs gave out from under me even with Raven taking most of my weight, she was the only reason I didn’t end up back on the ground.

“Let’s get you to camp,” she said as she all but dragged me towards the exit.

“We’ll come back for her, right?”

“I’ll come fetch her myself,” Raven said simply. “She deserves better than some cave as her resting spot.”

“Yes, she does.”

 

Time passed strangely after we made it to camp; I was in and out of consciousness so often it was hard for me to keep track so I didn’t bother. Sometimes when I woke up Raven would be sitting with me, mending clothes or fixing weapons in the silence. I think they may have been mine, but I was so out of it the few times she had them out that I couldn’t tell.

Other times the tribe doctor would be there, grudgingly checking my wounds for infection. It was the same old man from when we were young and, just like back then, he still wasn’t very fond of me now. I’m pretty sure the only reason he was treating my wounds was because Raven told him to.

But most times I woke up alone with only my thoughts as company. During those times, I almost wished they gave me more pain medicine then they were, at least then my brain would be too scattered to function properly. Maybe then I wouldn’t be plagued so badly with guilt.

“I should have never accepted the mission”, “I should have sent her home,” “I never should have left her alone;” all these thoughts and more simply bounced around my head, constantly making themselves known. They all contradicted each other, yet I couldn’t refute a since word of them. Underneath the different words and phrases, they all said “It was my fault.”

I can’t deny that either.


	8. A Painful Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! I have to thank you all again for the comments, I'm always happy to hear what you all are thinking when it comes to my stories. Anyways, here's the next chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
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>  
> 
> ___

“Good, you’re awake,” my sister said as she entered the makeshift clinic. “How are you feeling?”

“Do I really have to answer that?” I asked flatly as she eyed my bandages.

I was pretty much covered in the things. My torso was wrapped completely to keep my shattered ribs from moving too much. My shoulder bandages seamlessly connected to them making it look like a ridiculous shirt with only one sleeve. With that same arm in a sling and my opposite knee wrapped up to my mid thigh, I was surprised she needed to ask.

“I suppose not,” she answered after a moment. She sat down in the chair next to my cot, staying silent for several minutes until I had enough of it.

“Why are you here, Raven?”

“My brother’s injured and you’re asking why I’m here?” she asked simply. “You can’t claim that it’s odd because I’ve been doing it for the past week.”

“You bring stuff to work on when you visit,” I answered with a sigh. “Today your hands are empty. So why are you here? And no more games, I’m not in the mood.”

“They had Summer’s funeral today,” she said after a moment. I blinked but otherwise didn’t react. “It was a nice ceremony, at least from what I could see perched in the woods. Couldn’t get too close, Taiyang might have noticed.”

“When…” I tried to ask but my voice trailed off before the rest of the words exited my mouth.

“When did they find out? Probably a day or so after I delivered her body to Ozpin.”

“Where was it?” I asked. Raven paused for a moment, looking like she was trying to find the best way to explain the location.

“Do you remember that cliff the four of us used to hang out at during school breaks? It was halfway between Beacon and Patch. We used to spend most of the day there, just talking, relaxing, and sometimes training.”

“Tai liked to see how many times he could throw me off the cliff before I retaliated.”

“Yeah, there.”

“Will you take me?” I asked after a minute.

“When you can move on your own, yes. But right now, no,” she answered. I nodded before turning to look out the window. “I just thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks.”

 

 “Looks like you’re finally getting rid of me,” I told the doctor. It had been three weeks since the funeral and I was finally getting out of there. The old man frowned at me before dropping a pile of clothes at the end of my cot. They looked suspiciously like my suit, only washed and patched.

“Bout damn time,” the man muttered and turned to leave. I shook my head and pulled my arm out of the sling so I could grab the clothes. My fingers hadn’t even brushed the fabric before he was facing me again. “And you damn well better keep that arm in that sling because I won’t be fixin it again. If you reinjure yourself then you’re going to have to find yourself a different doctor.”

“It’s fine.” I picked up the clothes with just that arm to demonstrate. “The cut’s not even there anymore.”

“Just because the skin’s healed doesn’t mean the rest of your shoulder is. Now put it back before you hurt yourself. I don’t want you here longer then you have to be.”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be fixing it.” I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Your sister’s very, persuasive,” he said, getting a small, humorless chuckle from me.

“That she is,” I answered turning my attention back towards the clothes. “If it’s any consolation to you, I’ll take it easy for a while. At least until I’m out of camp.”

The man shook his head in an exasperated manor before finally leaving the room.

With my suit spread out on the bed, I stood up and stretched for a moment, ignoring the painful complaints coming from my healing ribcage and shoulder. Once I was done, I began changing quickly. I tried to ignore the angry, red bite marks on my knee or the scar still quite prominent on my shoulder, but found it pretty difficult. They just stood out so much that my eyes were almost drawn to them. They were a physical representation of my guilt, which made it even more difficult to ignore.

Hence why I didn’t want to take my time switching clothes, but apparently my shoulder had other plans. Apparently the doctor was right about something since, as I was putting on my jacket, my arm was refusing to go any higher then about mid-chest.

I growled in annoyance as I struggled with the coat, but didn’t get any farther with it. In fact, it seemed that I only got more tangled in it.

“Here,” I heard Raven say as the collar of my coat was lifted, allowing my trapped arm to enter the coat sleeve without a problem.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I busy myself with the buttons.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” she asked after a moment. “It’s not like you have anywhere else to go.”

“I’m sure,” I told her after a moment. “Honestly, this is the last place in Remnant I want to be right now.”

“I can’t say I understand very well,” she said as I focused on buttoning my jacket.

“I doubt you would,” I muttered. There was a small silence that lasted only long enough for me to finish fastening the buttons. “You don’t happen to have my cape with you, do you?”

“It’s pretty tore up,” she said from her new spot on the end of the cot. “There was no way I could repair it. You should probably just get a new one.”

“Just give me the cape, Raven.” I held out a hand impatiently towards her. She sighed before throwing a red piece of fabric at him. “Thank you.”

“Still think you should replace it,” she said as I unfurled the cloth.

She was right about one thing, it was pretty much shredded. There were several new holes, a couple of which seemed to line up with my own injuries oddly well. The end was also pretty ragged and about a foot higher than it used to be. If things had been different I probably would have switched it out for a different one, but I knew I could never get rid of it, at least not anymore.

Looking at it now reminded me of when I got it during my first semester at Beacon. Summer had picked it out, said I needed to add some color to my wardrobe. Apparently going around in just a grey and black suit made me look like a banker. So I bought it and have been wearing it ever since.

“It’s fine the way it is,” I replied after a while. “I think the holes give it character after all.”

Raven shook her head as she stood back up, snatching the cape back before fastening it back in place, never even giving me a chance to struggle with it.

“It makes you look like an accident prone moron, which isn’t exactly wrong.” Once she was done attaching it she walked back over to the bed and picked up my abandoned sling. “Might as well finish the look.”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, putting the sling back on regardless. Finishing that, I picked up my weapon from its temporary home at the foot of my bed. I weighed it in my free hand for a moment before putting it away in his holster.

I stood there for a moment, taking a deep breath as I focused on what I was about to do.

“I think I’m ready,” I told her quietly, becoming serious once more. “I think I’m ready to face her.”

Raven stared at me for a moment as if trying to find the right words to say to me. When none came to mind, she simply nodded before opening a portal for me. I nodded back in acknowledgement then began walking towards the portal. I was a few steps away from the spinning light show when Raven held out an arm, stopping me.

“Are you sure you want to do this alone?” She asked. I looked her straight in the eyes, noticing a bit of concern hidden quite well in her expression.

“I have to,” I answered. “I have things I should have said to her but never did. I, I can’t leave things like this. And I don’t really want witnesses either.”

“Very well.” Raven lowered her arm, allowing me access to the portal. “I hope it does some sort of good for you. Maybe by talking to her you’ll be able to make a genuine expression again.”

“Didn’t think you noticed.” I chuckled lightly, giving her a smile she knew was fake.

“I’m your twin, of course I noticed.” She rolled her eyes at me with another shake of her head. “Now go, and try not to get too drunk at the bar afterwards.”

“Can’t promise that,” I said as I walked through the portal. The other side was bright, so bright that it blinded me the moment I stepped onto the grass.

I shielded my eyes from the sun, waiting for what seemed like ever for my eyes to adjust. Once they got used to the light, I looked around, taking in the healthy forest on one side and the cliff on the other.

It looked just like it used to, the grass long and vibrant, the sky the brightest blue one could ever imagine. The only difference was that the cliff now housed a gravestone, and a patch of upturned grass.

My heart clenched at the sight of Summer’s symbol engraved into the stone. It hurt, knowing that this was all that was left of her. It hurt so much I wanted to turn around and head straight for the nearest bar just to make the pain stop. But I couldn’t. I was here for a reason and I couldn’t avoid it any longer.

I took slow, measured steps towards the stone, stopping right where the new grass was starting to grow on top the grave.

“Hey Summer,” I said after a moment, looking down at the grave stone in front of me. “Missed me?”

 “I would have come by sooner but Raven wouldn’t let me leave. Said I was too injured or something. Of course, I did get stabbed so I guess she had a point, much to the doctor’s dismay.” I chuckled at the thought. “He didn’t like me very much, even as a child. I guess I caused too much trouble or something.”

I looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath before turning back.

“Pretty nice place you got here. Beautiful view. Not that far from Patch. I’m sure your girls would have no problem visiting any time they want. Tai too, I guess.” I paused for a moment as I frowned. “I don’t know if you two were romantic by now or what, but I’m sure he’s going to miss you something fierce.

“Truthfully, knowing the truth, I can’t even blame you if you and Tai had that type of relationship. I was gone, pouting like a child, while you were trying to make do without me. With both Raven and I disappearing like we did, it only made sense that you two would turn to each other for comfort.”

I ran a hand through my hair nervously, looking away once again.

“Turns out I’m exactly like my sister after all. Whether I want to be or not,” I said quietly, my hand dropping back to my side. “Maybe Branwen’s are destined to hurt those they love, if that’s the case I did one hell of a job living up to the family name.”

I swallowed, my mouth running dry as Summer’s last moments came to mind. In a single moment, all those barriers I had up to keep me functional came crashing down. There was nothing left to stop the pain from rearing its ugly head. I felt tears well in my eyes as I fought to keep them from falling.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, the words barely making it past my lips. “I’m sorry for everything. I messed up worse than I ever thought I could. I should have never left you with only a note. I should have never left before you had a chance to explain. I should have never left you alone on that mission.

“I should have never left.”

I felt water drip onto my cheeks as I lost the fight with my tears.

“It’s all my fault,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. “You’re gone because of me.

“I know what you would say, that I wasn’t holding the sword so I’m not the one to blame. But I was there, and just being present makes me partially at fault for this. You probably would have had a better chance if I had stayed away.”

My heart clenched again as my knees gave out, dropping me to the ground in front of the grave. A moment later I fell forward, my forehead buried in the grass my good arm supported my weight. I opened my mouth to say more but all that came out was a pitiful sob. There was no doubt left anymore, I was crying. Every emotion I had hidden away over the past month was out in the open, each demanding a tear of their very own, and I could no longer deny them.

The tears flowed steadily now, some flowing down my nose while others dripped off my eyelashes. Either way they all made their way to the ground only to be promptly sucked up by the young grass.

It was several long minutes before I was able to calm down enough to speak again.

“I’m a coward,” I said hoarsely from my spot in the grass. “I sho-I should have told you this when you were alive. Instead I bring it up now, when you can’t talk back. You should be here; yelling at me, screaming, cuffing me upside the head for my stupidity. But you’re not. You’re dead, and no number of tears is going to fix it.”

I sat up slowly, wiping my face with my sleeve.

“I, should go,” I murmured as my sleeve came back covered in dirt and tears. “I said what I came here for, and then some. And I have places to be, other people expecting me. But I needed to come here first.

“I-I love you Summer, and I don’t think I can ever stop. You were my best friend, my closest partner, and the love of my life. I know for a fact I’m never going to be able to get over that.”

My legs were shaky as I climbed back to my feet. I already felt exhausted, emotionally and physically, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

“I’ll do my best for Ruby but I don’t know how much that will be. She has Tai after all, and after this I doubt he’ll want me anywhere near them. As much as I want to run over there right now, I know I won’t be welcome.”

I took a slow breath lowering my eyes to the gravestone once again.

“Goodbye Summer,” I finished, finally turning away.

With legs of jelly and an aching heart I left cliff behind me knowing neither would recover any time soon. The only thing that would cure my heart completely would be Summer coming back. But since that was never going to happen I would have to settle with something that would cure it temporarily, luckily I knew just the thing.


	9. A Chance Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks for all the kudos, bookmarks, and comments. You guys are awesome! Here's the new chapter, a little reprieve from all the emotion heavy chapters.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

“How long has he been there?” I heard a man ask. The voice startled me awake, making me jump slightly. My head was pounding and whoever was talking wasn’t making it feel any better.

“Three days,” the barkeep’s voice answered. “I tossed him out every time we closed but he just sits outside till we open again.”

I tried to peak at the barkeep and the man he was conversing with only for the dim lights of the bar to make my head hurt worse. I groaned lightly, turning away from the light. I hate hangovers, and judging by the painful base drum concert happening in my brain, I had been sleeping long enough to get one.

“I thought that would be the case,” the man said again with a small sigh.

I ignored him this time, looking around my area for something else. I grinned slightly at the half full cup of whiskey, using my unslung arm to pull it closer. Best cure for a hangover is always more liquor.

“Oh, he’s alive.” The barkeep sounded a bit surprised but I ignored him too. I sat up enough to allow me to down the drink. Of course, before the cup could even make it to my lips, someone plucked it out of my hand.

“I think you’ve had enough,” the man said. I turned towards him again, my eyes trying to follow the stolen drink as a black and green arm handed it back to the barkeep. “If you could dispose of this please. I’ll get him out of your hair in no time.”

“’hat was mine,” I murmured as I squinted at the offending man. It took way too long for my eyes to focus on the man, black blurring with green and white until he finally snapped into focus. It took even longer to realize that I recognized him.

“You don’t need it,” Ozpin replied as he sat down on the stool next to me. “You should probably have some water though.”

“Water don’t do shit.” I turned my head, trying to bury my face into the counter top once again.

“It does get you hydrated while your liquor does the opposite. You really should drink some so you don’t die.”

“Buzzkill.”

“From what I can tell you don’t have much of a buzz left to kill,” Ozpin said simply.

“I would if you left me alone,” I muttered into the counter.

“Qrow…”

“Go away,” I interrupted, making Ozpin sigh. “Can’t you let a guy mourn in peace?”

“This isn’t mourning, this is drinking.”

“Same thing.” Before I could say more there was the familiar tap of a cup being placed on the countertop in front of me. I popped my head up hopefully only to find a tall glass that was definitely not liquor.

“Drink the water, you’ll feel better,” Ozpin stated.

“Doubt it,” I groaned but picked up the glass regardless. I took a sip which lead to several gulps once I realized exactly how thirsty I was. Before I knew it half the cup was empty and Ozpin was giving me a knowing look.

“Thirsty?”

“Up yours,” I muttered behind the glass before finishing off the liquid. I slammed it onto the counter triumphantly. “There, now you’ve insured I’m not gonna die. Can you leave me be now?”

“Unfortunately no, I have something I need you to do,” Ozpin answered, earning a frown from me.

“If it ain’t beating the shit out of Ironwood then you’re gonna have to find someone else, because right now, that’s my next project.”

“If I there was anyone else capable of doing it, I’d send them, but there’s not,” he said. I glanced at him to see an apologetic look on his face, making me groan.

“Fine, what is it?”

“I believe one of Tai’s girls may be the new winter maiden.”

I stared at Ozpin for quite some time before I was able to respond.

“What?” I asked, hoping I’d heard him wrong.

“It’s possible that Summer may have inadvertently passed the maiden powers onto either Yang or Ruby,” Ozpin explained a little slower. “It is not uncommon for a mother’s last thought to be about her children.”

I looked away from him, seriously wishing he hadn’t taken my drink away earlier.

“Then go talk to Tai about it. You don’t need me to check eye colors.”

“I would, but Taiyang won’t take my calls at the moment,” Ozpin replied. “I broached the subject with him once but was hung up on soon after. I haven’t been able to contact him since.”

“Do you think he’s in trouble?” I ran a finger over the lip of the empty cup repeatedly, giving myself something to focus on.

“Not at all, I know a few people in town that see him occasionally. He’s fine, so are his kids.”

“Then get one of them to do it,” I said simply. “They just need to see if one of them has silver eyes. It’s not robot science.”

“Taiyang has become very protective of them since Summer’s demise. He hasn’t let anyone near them in about a month.” I glanced at Ozpin to see his elbows propped on the countertop with his fingers laced in front of his mouth. “He’s hiding something, Qrow, and I’m willing to bet it has to do with one of the girls.”

“So you need me to pull the uncle card to get close enough to see what it is,” I said, not really asking. “You do know that Tai will probably beat the shit out of me as soon as he sees me.”

“Yes, but it has to be done. Unless you know something I don’t.” Ozpin turned towards me, his green eyes focused. “You were with her in her last moments. You would probably know what her last thoughts where about.”

I sunk down on my stool as if he’d loose interest in the conversation if I wasn’t as tall.

“If you already know they’re not about the girls then I can let you off the hook.”

I focused my eyes on the countertop. In the last three days I’d hung out here I’ve never noticed how ugly it was. But I noticed it now while my mind tried to do anything but think of that time.

I knew what her last thoughts where, or at least the most likely considering the conversation we were having. I thought about lying to the man, telling him that we were speaking about the sunset or something like that as she died. At least that way he’d leave me be to my drunken stupor, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to rest without finding out myself.

“We talked about Ruby…in those moments,” I answered quietly after a long pause.

“Then it’s possible.”

“Yeah.”

“Will you go?”

“Yeah.” I stretched in my seat for a moment. “It’s about time I see them anyways. I’ve been a pretty shitty uncle so far.”

 

I took off to Patch pretty early the next morning despite my head still pounding like crazy. I probably should have waited until I could think straight to leave but, well, I’ve waited long enough. Truthfully, I would have left straight from the bar that night but Ozpin refused to give me Tai’s new address until I’d drank three more glasses of water and the sun was up.

Turns out I could have found the place on my own pretty easily, it was just a small cottage that was closer to town then his original cabin. Where his old house was a good three hour walk from patch, this new one was only about twenty minutes, at least according to Oz.

It had taken me a little over a day and a half to fly there, even though it would normally have taken me not even a day. It was annoying having to take frequent breaks in order to rest my messed up shoulder but it was better than walking.

It was during one of these breaks that something caught my eye, which was pretty surprising since my bird eye sight was pretty horrible.

I had perched myself on a tree branch, trying to growl in annoyance but getting deep throated chirps instead. I stretched out my injured shoulder/wing, trying to get the pain to go away when I saw flash of gold between the leaves.

Cocking my head to the side, I watched the spot for a while, hoping to catch it again. After a few moments it appeared again, but in a different place, almost making me miss it. A confused chirp passed my beak as I studied the new spot even closer. About thirty seconds later, the gold appeared again, this time in a large gap in the leaves.

I blinked as I noticed that the golden flash was actually hair; bright, chaotic blond hair tied up in a pair of pigtails. These blond pigtails happened to be attached to a little six-year-old girl who looked too much like Raven for it to be a coincidence.

I cocked my head to the other side in confusion as little Yang walked down the overgrown path, occasionally stumbling on stones in her apparent exhaustion. She looked like a little zombie that was pulling a red wagon. A wagon containing a slumbering toddler completely decked out in red.

I let out a curse, which turned into an aggravated caw somewhere between my brain and my beak. I had no idea what my little niece was thinking, taking her little sister out alone in the middle of the forest, but I knew it wasn’t going to end well. So, after one last stretch of my wing, I followed them.

Flying from branch to branch I kept an eye on them, occasionally stopping to let the pair catch up. My niece seemed to only get slower as she traveled, the length of the trip no doubt weighing heavily on her.

It didn’t take me very long to figure out where Yang was headed, after all there was only one place this small path lead to. What confused me was why she felt the need to bring her little sister to her old house. The place was sure to have been abandoned for a while now since there would be very few people actually wanting it. With it being so far from town, and smack dab in the middle of what most people call ‘Grimm territory’, it wasn’t the most ideal home.

Whatever her reasoning was, that little girl was determined to get to that house. It both impressed me and worried me at the same time. My sister had the tendency to be this stubborn, which was often quite helpful when we were on quests since she wouldn’t quite just because it was hard. But there were many times where it got her into trouble because she didn’t know when to cut her losses.

I barely snapped out of my thoughts in time to keep from passing the girls. They had stopped suddenly, opting to stand in the middle of the path instead of keep moving. I was just questioning why when I saw the cabin sitting directly in front of them.

It looked worse than it had the last time I saw it, the screen door was hanging off one of its hinges while every window had been shattered. There were tiles missing from the roof, even what looked to be a hole completely through to the interior from there as well. I was a bit amazed. I knew nature reclaimed its territory fairly quickly, but this place looked like it was abandoned for twenty years, not five. There’s no way it could have fallen apart so quickly.

I was just starting to suspect something else was involved when several pairs of red eyes shined from inside the house, confirming my suspicions. Nature didn’t take back this house, Grimm did.

It wasn’t long after catching sight of the Grimm, that they caught sight of Yang, their glowing red eyes staring at her hungrily. A second later they busted through the screen door, making a beeline straight towards the exhausted girl and her sleeping sister. I dived out of the tree, changing form in midair, leaving the newly reformed sling behind while pulling out my weapon.

Before those bastards had made it even half way to the girls, I had cut them down. They let out screams as they died, causing more red eyes to appear from inside the building.

“How many of those can fit in there?” I wondered out loud as three more stepped out from inside the building. I leveled my broadsword in front of me, my shoulder twinging angrily as I did so. Under normal circumstances three Grimm wouldn’t be an issue for me, but protecting two little girls while suffering from recovering wounds wasn’t exactly normal.

Two of them charged at me while the other held back, presumably to judge the fight. I swiped at the first one, splitting it in half from nose to tail. As it disintegrated, the second attacked, hoping to catch me while I was distracted. I sidestepped it, swinging my sword to hack off a limb as it went by. It landed clumsily about a foot away. I raised my sword to finish it off, only for my shoulder to twinge as it went too high making me hesitate for just millisecond. But that was all it took for the other Beowolf to tackle me to the ground.

The Grimm snapped at my face, the only thing stopping it from taking it off being my sword holding him at bay. I struggled to keep the weapon where it was, as my shoulder screamed to let go. The pain in it was getting worse by the second, leaving little doubt that I was currently reinjuring it.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the other one begin to move. It climbed back to the feet it had left, it’s eyes locked on the children behind me. I glanced at them briefly to see a pair of lavender eyes watching me. Our eyes met for just a second, but that was all it took for me to know that they were both too precious to lose so easily. There was no way that I could possibly allow that Beowolf to hurt even a hair on her head.

With this in mind, I transformed my weapon into its scythe, surprising the Grimm on top of me enough to decapitate it. Before its body was even on the ground, I was keeling, my weapon changed into its gun form. I fired four or five times before the last Grimm dropped to the ground.

I knelt there for a while as I tried to catch my breath. After a month of sitting around waiting for my wounds to close I knew I was out of shape, but this was ridiculous. I was just trying to figure out exactly how to rectify this when a voice interrupted me.

“Again! Again!” She yelled. I popped my head up to see the toddler now wide awake and grinning happily. I chuckled lightly as I shook my head. Of course she’d like something like that, at only four she probably didn’t even understand how dangerous it was for her.

“I don’t think so,” I answered while climbing slowly to my feet, wincing as my shoulder complained once more. I changed my weapon back into its normal form before stashing it in its holster. “I don’t think there’s any left anyways.”

“Awww,” she pouted, giving me the cutest frown I’ve ever seen, surpassing her mother’s easily.

“Who are you?” Yang asked, still looking on guard.

“Name’s Qrow.” I walked towards her slowly so not to startle her very much. Once I was close enough I knelt down, lowering myself so we were eye to eye. “I’m your uncle.”


	10. A Long Walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! I completely forgot to post this last night! You can blame Final Fantasy XV for that one. Just got it and I'm having way too much fun to the point that I'm ignoring everything else that i'm supposed to be doing. I have an entire Ren coat I've barely even started to put together that needs to be done in about a week and a half yet i'm still playing that stupid game.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for all the kudos and bookmarks. I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
>  
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

_“Name’s Qrow.” I walked towards her slowly so not to startle her very much. Once I was close enough I knelt down, lowering myself so we were eye to eye. “I’m your uncle.”_

 

“Really? That’s cool!” Ruby shouted happily before turning to Yang. “What’s an uncle?”

“I’ve never heard of you,” Yang said instead, ignoring her sister for the time being.

“Not surprised. I’ve been away for quite some time,” I told her simply. “But I’m here now, and that’s what matters.”

“Where’d you go?” Ruby asked, still looking way too excited about all this then she probably should be.

“Everywhere.” I smiled getting a toothy grin in response. “There were a lot of dangerous mission I had to go out on, and no one else able to do them.”

“Missions? Huntsman go on missions!”

“Yes the do.”

“Are you a huntsman?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Cool!” She exclaimed, leaping up in excitement while almost knocking the wagon over in the process.

“If you’re a huntsman, then what are you doing here?” Yang asked.

“I think a better question is what are _you_ doing here?” I answered, looking her straight in the eyes yet again. “The woods are awfully dangerous for two little girls to be adventuring in alone.”

The blond looked away soon after I asked.

“Yang said we were going on an adventure!” Ruby exclaimed happily, only making her sister look guiltier.

“I just,” Yang started after a moment, her voice quiet. “I just needed to see…”

“You needed to see if she was there,” I supplied when her words failed her. She nodded. “I can tell you that she hasn’t been here in a very long time.”

“How do you know?! She could have been here! She could have just been waiting for me!” She turned back towards me, her hands curled up into little fists by her sides while her eyes glowed an angry red.

“I’m her brother, the one person that probably knows her better then she does,” I said gently, watching her eyes fade back to purple as I spoke. “Trust me when I say that she hasn’t been back here since the night she left.”

She stood there for a while, staring at the ground as she processed my words. I watched as my niece deflated, the anger leaving as quickly as it had come. Not even a moment later her shoulders began shaking as little sniffles made themselves known.

“She hated me, didn’t she?” she whimpered, tears evident in her voice. “That’s why she left.”

“No, that’s not it at all,” I said, my heart wrenching at the statement. “I’m sure she loves you very much.”

“But she left.” Yang looked back up at me her eyes filled with tears. “If she loves me why would she leave?”

“I-I don’t have an answer for that, sweetie,” I answered, placing a hand on her arm trying to reassure her. “But I can tell you this, if she could have taken you with her, she would have. But where she went is…dangerous, to say the least. It was much safer for you with your father then with her. She loves you, Yang, even if she’s not here to show it.”

She looked at me for a moment as if in shock before launching herself at me. Before I knew what was going on her arms were wrapped around my neck and here face buried into my shoulder as she began crying in earnest. I stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. I’ve never really had contact with young children before so this was completely foreign territory.

“Shhhh, it’s alright,” I whispered to her, as I awkwardly patted her back. When that seemed not to work I began rubbing circles on her back, hoping it would calm her down some. It must have done something because it wasn’t long before her crying changed more into upset hiccups then full out sobs.

By then I had shifted to sit cross-legged on the path, the upset blond propped on my lap. She looked like she was starting to doze off, her arms still wrapped around my neck. I was just wondering if I would be able to pry her off in her sleep when I felt another pair of small arms wrap around my waist. I glanced down at my other side to see that little Ruby had climbed into my lap as well. She grinned up at me.

“I want to hug the birdy uncle too,” she said. I smiled at her as I ruffled her hair.

The three of us sat there for quite some time, and I have to admit, it felt nice. Yang was holding onto me like her life depended on it while Ruby was just hugging me for the sake of hugging me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt needed; it was something I didn’t know I missed until now. Therefore, I was perfectly content on holding these two until they didn’t need it anymore, in other words until they were asleep and easier to escape from.

It only took maybe another five minutes until Yang was out cold, which wasn’t surprising considering how exhausted she was before. Ruby, on the other hand was as wide awake as ever. The whole time her sister was dozing off she kept peeking behind me, trying get at my weapon.

“You’re not going to go to sleep are you?” I asked after narrowly stopping her from pressing the button that would have turned it into a scythe. The red head looked up at me, her grin as wide as before, if not wider.

“Nope!” she replied happily.

“That’s what I thought,” I replied. I moved her off my lap so I could shift Yang into my arms. My shoulder complained about the new weight but she was light so it wasn’t too bad. I moved carefully, making sure not to jostle her very much as I climbed to my feet. “You don’t mind sharing your wagon with Yang, do you?”

“She can have it,” Ruby answered, following close behind me. “I wanna walk.”

“You’ll be changing your tune before we’re halfway back.” I set Yang down into the wagon, taking a minute or so to remove her arms from my neck. That girl had a stronger grip then I thought a six-year-old was capable of.

“Nuh uhh,” she replied childishly. “I’m gonna walk all the way home.”

“We’ll see,” I said, turning back towards the toddler.

The little girl had her hands on her hips, looking about as stubborn as she could possibly be. She was frowning at me, but she was just too cute to take seriously. I chuckled a bit, only to stop when I noticed a familiar set of eyes staring at me, determination sparkling within them. They were her mother’s eyes, right down to their bright silver coloring.

“Why does Oz always have to be right?” I asked myself as I ran a hand through my hair.

“Wha?” Ruby gave me a confused look as I shook my head.

“Nothing.” I picked up the wagon handle with one hand before offering Ruby the other. “Let’s get you two home, shall we?”

 

It took the three of us several hours to get to their house, making it almost dark by the time we crossed over into their front lawn. Ruby was out cold again, having passed about a half hour after she decided she was done walking. She hadn’t even walked an hour. She was propped up in my side, my good arm holding her in place as she drooled on my coat. At this point I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get feeling back in my arm but I could live with that.

Yang was awake now, looking a lot more subdued after their adventure then before it. She continued to ride in the wagon, looking increasingly nervous as we approached her home.

“Daddy’s going to be mad at me, isn’t he?” she asked quietly as lights came into view.

“Yeah, most likely. He’ll probably be scared too,” I answered after a moment of thought. “His two young daughters disappeared from his home without so much as a note. If he’s not scared senseless for you two right now then I’m going to have to…uh, have some words with him.”

“You’re going to kick his butt,” she corrected. I looked back at her in confusion only to get a small, tired grin from the girl. “Whenever mommy was mad at daddy she would say that she wanted to ‘have some words with him.’ Then she’d throw him his weapon and they’d spare until she wasn’t mad at him anymore. And whoever lost had to make breakfast the next day.”

“Sounds like your dad had to make breakfast a lot.” I smiled at her getting a small giggle in response.

“Every time,” she replied.

“Anyways, don’t worry about it too much,” I told her. “He’ll probably be madder at me anyways.”

 I looked up at the house, studying it a bit. It was simple and very similar to the cottage, only that this one was quite a bit bigger. As I watched I could see someone darting around the back yard frantically, it was too dark to see who it was, but it wasn’t that hard to guess.

“Why?” Yang asked, sounding puzzled.

“Adult reasons,” I answered simply. “Maybe when you’re older I’ll tell you.”

I glanced back at Yang to see that she was still quite curious, she obviously didn’t want to let this conversation go but I also wasn’t giving her the chance to continue it.

“Hey Tai!” I called, making the frantic figure’s head to snap up. “Did you loose something?”

I gestured to the stirring toddler in my arms, then to the sleepy blond in the wagon. He hesitated only a moment before heading straight towards us. When he got to the front yard, the porch light illuminated his face, showing me that this wasn’t going to be a happy reunion. He was pissed. And I had no doubts who is anger was aimed at.

“Take Ruby,” I said simply as I handed the younger sibling to the older one. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Both girls looked at me in confusion as I straitened up and faced forward. I took a few steps towards Tai, giving myself a little space between them and me.

“So Tai, haven’t seen you in a while huh? What’s it been five-“

My words where cut short by a strong punch in the face which threw me to the ground several feet away.

“Alright, I kinda deserved that,” I said as I climbed to my feet.

“ _Kind of?_ After the shit you did? You deserve a hell of a lot more then that!” Tai shouted, walking up to me again.

“Let me guess, you’re going to be the one to dish it out.” Another punch came straight at my face, missing by half an inch as I dodged towards the side. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

I dodged clumsily a few more times before getting into a rhythm. This was usually how our fights went regardless when we were in Beacon, I was faster than him so I’d mostly just dodge. It pissed him off but it kept me from being hit, which was always a good thing. Now, normally I’d fight back as well, maybe even pull out my weapon, but fighting back right now would only make things worse. Well, that and there was no way in hell my shoulder was going to be able to handle that weapon again for the time being. So I dodged, narrowly missing each of him blows by only a hands breath.

“Stand still asshole!” Tai called as I sidestepped another blow.

“Language, there are little ears present,” I reminded him only to be forced to duck a swing once again. “It’s true, they’re sitting right there, ready to mimic every naughty word you say.”

“Kick his ass birdy uncle!” I heard Ruby yell from the wagon.

“See?” A foot came towards my head that I was barely able to lean away from. “I’m not the one she’s copying, you know. You really shouldn’t be blaming me for her new language.”

“That’s not what this is about!” He shouted as I dodged another blow. “You took them away! Without permission! Without telling me! Returning them doesn’t fix it!”

I jumped out of the way once more, giving myself a moment to process what he said. Apparently there was some sort of misunderstanding somewhere in between all of this, which is really not that surprising anymore. I could try to explain everything between blows, but I knew from experience that he never actually listens mid-fight. Now, if I could get him to sit still for two seconds then I might actually have a chance.

I watched as he came at me again, planting my foot into the dirt to make sure I had a steady balance. I was done dodging. I was ending things, now.

I waited patiently until he was within swinging range, unsure of exactly how I was, in fact, going to finish this fight. But, as luck would have it, Taiyang’s foot caught on an exposed root, causing him to stumble forward. I grinned, ducking under his flailing arms in order to get at his side and then shoving him against the trunk of a nearby tree, my shoulder twinging in the process.

“First off, you gadda calm down because I doubt the kiddies wanna see me wipe the floor with their father,” I said as I held him against the tree.

“Yah we do!” Ruby called from the wagon, jumping up and down once again. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Hush you, you’re not helping,” I half-scolded, more amused then not. I shook my head before turning back to a still struggling Tai. “Second, I didn’t take them, they took themselves. I simply returned them, after saving them from being Grimm chow.”

At that he stilled, looking confused at my statement.

“If you don’t believe me, ask your daughters.” I thought for a moment before continuing. “Or ask Yang, Ruby might just go on about how awesome the fights were and how cool my scythe is. FYI, I’m pretty sure the only reason she’s rooting for me at the moment is because she wants to see it again. She kept trying to steal it from me when I was bringing them back.”

It was quiet for a while as Tai processed what I was saying to him.

“Yang, is this true?” he asked finally, making the younger blond look down at her toes.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t want to put us in danger. I just wanted to find her.”

Tai sighed, the fight leaving him quite quickly after Yang’s confession.

“Are you good?” I asked after a while. “Can I let you go without getting knocked into next week?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

I released him quickly, my shoulder being unable to hold him for much longer anyways. I really should have left it in its sling, or at least retrieved the sling back when I lost it. But before I could scold myself anymore, Tai took advantage of my distraction and punched me into a different tree. Of course the bastard had to make contact with the sore shoulder too.

I gritted my teeth as my good arm grabbed at the old wound. My fingers were feeling a bit numb, which probably wasn’t a very good sign.

“Damn it Tai!” I exclaimed as I climbed back to my feet. “You said you were good!”

“I am,” he said calmly as he made his way towards his children. He quietly picked Yang up, propping her on his hip like she was still a toddler before turning back towards me. “Just because you didn’t take them doesn’t mean you aren’t guilty of other things.”

I took an exasperated breath as I got to my feet.

“So you’re going to kill me over those instead?”

“No, you saved them so you get a reprieve,” he states as Yang wraps her arms around her neck and rests her head on his shoulder.

“Yay for me,” I muttered to myself.

“You might as well come in.” Tai turns back towards me as Ruby latches onto his leg, seeming intent on riding it into the house. “Summer would be mad if I turned you away on her account.”


	11. A Meaningful Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! I'm sorry for not updating later yesterday. I was exhausted and completely forgot. But there's only 2 chapters left anyways, so I'm just going to post them now. Save everyone the trouble of having to wait (and me the trouble of possibly forgetting again). So here's the first of the two. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
>  
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

A little while later everyone was settled in the house. Tai had just finished patching up all of Yang’s little cuts and scrapes as Ruby kept me company in the kitchen recounting all her favorite fairytales from memory. Some of the fight scenes sounded suspiciously like events that happened ear and the hero seemed to always be a figure in a cloak. I thought it was kinda cute how the color of the cloak changing from white to red, and how the weapon often switched between a bow and a scythe.

“And then the huntsman flew out of the sky with his big curvy weapon thing to save the hero!” She exclaimed as she hopped up while brandishing a wooden spoon.

“If he’s saving the hero, doesn’t that make him the hero?” I asked, making her frown at me.

“No, he’s the hero’s helper, there’s a difference.” She nodded, making me chuckle in response. “And then-“

“Come on Ruby,” Taiyang called as he came into view. “I need to treat your cuts too.”

“I don’t have cuts. I’m not hurt.” She placed her little fists on her hips in determination.

“I can see them from here,” Tai said with a sigh. “Now come on.”

“No.”

“Ruby…”

“I’m telling Birdy Uncle a story and I’m not done yet.”

“You can finish the story later,” I told her with a smile. She looked back at me, a bit conflicted.

“But this is the best part.”

“Well if it’s the best part, don’t you think everyone will want to hear it?”

“I guess.”

“Then you should tell it over dinner.”

“Ok,” she said as she put the spoon onto the kitchen table. She trotted over to her father, grabbing his hand to lead him to the bathroom. “Come on daddy, I want the Beowolf band-aids.”

I watched them disappear down the hallway as I settled into my chair, determined to sit there quietly until Tai came back to make dinner. After about two minutes of tapping my fingers on the table and trying to ignore the ache in my shoulder I gave up. Climbing to my feet I walked over to the cupboards and began searching through them, hoping to find something to take the edge off.

A few minutes later I heard Tai come back into the room. I didn’t turn around as I peeked over the top of some cups, hoping to find a secret stash hidden behind them. There was nothing.

“Where do you keep your liquor?” I ask, as I peak at the shelf below it.

“I don’t,” he replied.

I gave him a disbelieving look only to get interrupted as he chucked something white and dirty at me. I caught it effortlessly with my good arm before taking a glance at it. Surprisingly enough, it was my sling from earlier.

“Yours I assume?” he said, not really phrasing it as a question as he started digging through the fridge. “You’ve been nursing that shoulder enough that you probably need it regardless.”

“How’d it end up here?” I slipped the sling on, adjusting it until it could take the weight off my shoulder properly. The pain lessened significantly, leaving behind just enough of a dull ache to remind me what I did wrong today.

“Ruby tried to keep it as a souvenir. She thought it was an oddly shaped hat.”

“Of course she did,” I said gently, a small smile on my face.

Tai glanced at me before pulling out some bread, butter, and cheese from the fridge. I turned around to lean on the counter as I watched him set down the food in favor of grabbing a pan and a knife.

“Grilled cheese huh?” I asked after a moment.

“Don’t have time for much else,” he replied simply. He placed the pan on the stove, turning it on before handing me the knife. “Here, make yourself useful and butter the bread.”

“Fine, but if they end up burning it’s not my fault.”

I took the knife and started my assigned job. It was a bit difficult with my one arm in a sling, but after a few tries I made it work. The two of us cooked silently for a while, a small efficient assembly line of sandwiches taking place.

“You know about Ruby, don’t you?” Tai asked after a few minutes. I glanced at him quickly to see him focused on the frying pan before turning back to my own work.

“Ruby’s heritage or her new latent abilities?” I questioned. When he didn’t answer I continued anyways. “Yes, I know. Summer told me about the first during the mission. The second, well, that’s obvious to anyone that knows what they’re looking at.”

He was silent for a moment before speaking again.

“What do you plan to do about it?”

“There’s nothing for me _to_ do,” I replied, getting a questioning look in response. “You’ve raised her for the almost five years she’s been alive. She sees you as her father. There’s nothing left for me to do other than be the cool, spoiling Uncle to two adorable little nieces.”

Tai seemed to let out a breath he had been holding, making him relax a little.

“As for the other thing, I’ll let Oz know about it, because he kinda needs to know.” I handed him another buttered piece of bread as he flipped a sandwich out of the pan and onto the plate. “But other than that I won’t tell anyone else, if you don’t want me to. If you want this to stay a secret, then I’m sure even Oz will stay quiet about it.”

“That would be…good. Thank you,” he replied as he took the bread and placed it into the pan.

“It’s the least I can do for causing all of this.”

A tense silence fell between us that was only broken up by the sizzling of the sandwiches. My thoughts jumping to Summer’s last moment while his no doubt followed suit. It wasn’t that hard to guess what his next question was going to be.

“How’d it happen?” he asked, keeping his voice low to insure we weren’t overheard. “Ozpin only said that the mission went wrong somehow. He didn’t say much else.”

“He didn’t know much else,” I said after a moment. “Probably still wouldn’t if he didn’t corner me yesterday night.”

“It’s not called ‘being cornered’ if he finds you passed out at a bar,” he said flatly.

“Probably not.” I chuckled, setting down the knife and a half buttered piece of bread as I turned back to the matter at hand. “It was Salem.”

Tai’s spatula stilled, indicating to just the extent he was listening.

“She was hiding out nearby. None of us saw the signs until it was too late. If we had known she was there we would have never had Summer go, let alone made our arrival so public.” I took a shaky breath, not really wanting to continue but knowing I didn’t have much of a choice. “She attacked us while we were on patrol. Perfect timing on her part really, I had just stormed off like a child so we were separated, well until I realized how much of an idiot I was and turned around.

“Salem then beat the shit out of me then turned to Summer. Even with her Maiden powers she didn’t stand a chance. It was a fluke that I was able to get us away at all.”

“So…she didn’t die there?” Tai asked tentatively.

“No, she succumbed to her wounds soon after though.” We fell into silence again as Tai thought through all I told him. The guilt of the it all felt unbearable once again after retelling it.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, getting Tai’s attention once again. “I’m sorry for all of it. I’m sorry for not saving her. I’m sorry for letting her die. I’m sorry for leaving her here, for forcing you to clean up after my mess. I know sorry can’t fix anything, especially now. I’ve been an idiot for so long, I’m pretty sure nothing in all of Remnant can repair what I broke.”

“Probably not,” Tai said. I turned to look at him, getting a sad look in response. “Apologies might not fix things, but it’s a start. You know what else will help? Actually being there for Yang and Ruby. Being someone they depend on and care for, someone they look up too. The Brother’s know they don’t have many of those left. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice rough. “I think I can.”

Tai smiled reassuringly as he placed a hand on my shoulder, I tried not to wince when it happened to be the wrong shoulder. This was probably deliberate on his part but I just let it pass. Unfortunately, this reconciling moment just had to be interrupted by none other than Tai’s smoke detector.

We looked at each other in confusion before our eyes widened in unison, the reason occurring to us at the same moment.

“The sandwiches!”

 

“I can’t believe the sandwiches burned,” Tai muttered, his face buried in his hands.

The two of us sat at the kitchen table, a pile of charred sandwiches between us. I eyed them sadly, my head resting nearby the plate, giving me a nose full of burned cheese which only made the whole thing sadder.

“I can,” I replied, frowning at the plate. “It’s just my luck.”

“Normally I’d try to prove you wrong. I mean, one sandwich burning because we were distracted is one thing. But us accidentally knocking the whole stack into the burner when we were trying to save the one? That’s where I draw the line. You’ve got the worst semblance man, no doubt. You should get a metal or some shit.”

“At least someone agrees,” I said with a chuckle. “So what are you going to do about dinner? The pan’s ruined.”

“I don’t know. I’ve got a feeling that anything I make is going to burn tonight, even a PB&J sandwich.” Tai sat up, looking like he was about to get to his feet when Ruby peaked her head around the corner.

“Daddy? Are you burning the food again?” She asked from the doorway. Tai gave a small glance at the sandwiches before responding.

“Just a bit.” He smiled at her. Ruby sighed, a hand on her hip as she rolled her eyes. She looked so much like Summer in that moment, I had no doubt where she picked that up from.

“Seriously? Do I have to do all the cooking around here?” She said as she walked back down the hall. Tai and I exchanged confused glances as she disappeared. We waited a minute or so in silence before the little red head came back, her arms full.

“Here, one for you and one for you.” Ruby placed a large, chocolate chip cookie in front of both of us, leaving two still in her arms. “And then one for me and one for Yang.”

“Ruby, we can’t have cookies for dinner,” Tai tried to explain, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Yes we can. Cookies are good and they make boo-boo’s better.”

“How do cookies make it better?” I asked her curiously.

“They’re sweet and make it hurt less. Mama always gave me one after I got hurt and it made everything better.” She nodded to herself before continuing. “So both of you eat your cookies so you’ll feel better too.”

“I’m not hurt, Ruby,” Tai told her, getting an unbelieving look in response.

“Yes you are. Just not where band-aids can reach.” Ruby turned to walk away in the silence that followed. But before she left the room, she turned around again, facing me this time. “You are too. Which means you should get two cookies, but you’ll have to do with the one. I can only carry four and I’m not giving you mine.”

Tai and I could only stare as the little girl left the room, calling for her sister to come get her cookie.

“She’s a smart girl,” I said after some time. I picked up the cookie, smiling as I looked at it.

“That she is,” he replied as he took a bite out of his own.

“Where’d she even get them in the first place?”

“Top shelf of my closet,” Tai said simply. “At least that’s where I hid them this morning. I had hoped I’d get a few more days out of that spot but I guess not.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You can’t hide anything from that girl.”

I thought for a moment, taking a bite out of my cookie as I did.

“Is this why you don’t keep liquor in the house?” I asked around my cookie.

“…Yes.”


	12. A Kept Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright peeps! Here's the end! It's been a lot of fun posting all of this and hearing your feedback. Thanks for all the support. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
>  
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

I ended up staying there a few days longer then I intended. My shoulder had stiffened up during my first night on the couch, making it impossible to move the arm without pain. This meant that it was equally impossible for me to do any sort of flying until it had rested longer than a few hours.

I wasn’t too upset about it though, Tai and I seemed to have come to an understanding of sorts so though it was a little uncomfortable to interact with, it wasn’t completely strange. It was something I could put up with, especially if it meant spending time with my nieces.

The more time I spent with those two, the more precious they became. They were more than happy to have me join in their normal games. Most of them were these extravagant tales that they imagined and acted out on the spot. The pair were often a huntress or adventurer of some sort fighting evil and traveling the world. In those few days I’ve seen more imaginary dragons and Nevermores killed than I had in my life. Of course, more often than not, they decided I was the damsel in distress that they had to save. At one point they even had me wear a tall, pointy princess hat. They tried to get me into a dress too, but I was somehow able to convince them it wouldn’t fit.

Regardless of the strange roles, or how much Tai laughed at them, I still enjoyed myself more than I had in a long time. They were sweet girls who really had a way of growing on me. I was going to miss them, that was for sure.

“Why do you have to leave?” Ruby asked the third morning of my stay.

The three of us were sitting on the stairs of the deck, looking out into the front lawn. Yang had commandeered my lap and was leaning back against me as she fiddled with a toy motor cycle. Ruby on the other hand, was somehow attached to my back, her arms wrapped around my neck while her head rested on my good shoulder.

They had been like this for about five minutes now, taking their places as soon as I had told them I was leaving soon. I’m pretty sure they thought I couldn’t go if they had me pinned to the deck and I was more than willing to let them believe this.

“Because I have a job,” I told her simply. “And if I don’t do my job, people could get hurt.”

“But we were having fun,” she whined, sounding as if she was giving me the pouty face of all pouty faces. Luckily I couldn’t see it because I have yet to learn how Tai is immune to its charm. “You were having fun, right?”

“More than I’ve had in a long time.”

“Then why would you want to leave?”

“That’s what a huntsman is, Ruby,” I said with a small sigh. “They can’t do what they want to do all the time. In fact, it’s very rare that they _can_ do it at all.”

“What does that mean?” Yang asked, looking up at me with a puzzled look.

“It means that a huntsman, or huntress, often have to give up their wants to make sure that others are safe enough to get theirs.” I looked out at the trees again, not really seeing them this time. “I myself have given up pretty much everything just to keep them all safe. I’ve lost a chance for a normal life, a chance at love, I’ve even give up my family just so others can keep theirs.”

It was quiet for a moment as I got lost in my own thoughts. A moment later I was pulled back to the present by a pair of small arms wrapped around my torso, and a tightening of the ones around my neck.

“You still have us Uncle Qrow,” Yang said, looking up at me with a smile.

“Yeah, we’re your family, right?” Ruby said from my shoulder. I’m pretty sure she was trying to hug me, but with her arms around my neck it felt more like choking.

“Yeah,” I tried to say, even though I didn’t have much air to say it.

“Then you shouldn’t be sad about it.” She leaned forward, planting a small kiss on my cheek before finally loosening her grip on my neck.

“I guess you’re right,” I said with a small smirk.

Yang soon settled back into my lap while Ruby continued to hang on my back. It was quiet for a while, until Ruby decided to speak again.

“So, you’re coming back right?” Ruby asked. I froze for a moment, those words giving me a sense of Deja vu. Summer had asked that too. In the last conversation we had before things went to hell.

“O-of course,” I answered before they could notice my hesitation. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, my momma had to go like you do, but she hasn’t come back yet,” she said. I felt a twang of guilt as I looked back to see a very sad look on her face. “Daddy says she’s not.”

“I’ll come back. I promise.” I reached back and ruffled her hair but it didn’t make her smile like I had intended.

“Momma said that too,” she murmured, burying her face into my shoulder. I looked down to Yang to see her just as melancholy as her sister. It was then that I realized the real reason they didn’t want me to leave.

“Ruby, Yang.” The girls looked up at me. “Are you afraid that if I leave I won’t be able to come back?”

“…Maybe,” Yang answered, focusing back onto her toy.

“Look at me, you two.” I waited until both sets of eyes were on me again before continuing. “I promise I’ll always come back. I may not have known you for very long, but you are the greatest things in my life right now, and I doubt that’s going to change. Ever. So believe me when I say, there is nothing in Remnant that is going to keep me from seeing you two again.”

They didn’t look convinced.

“Alright, how about this.” I reached into my pocket, pulling out my sister’s dead medallion before removing my own necklace as well. I placed the medallion around Yang’s neck before doing the same with the necklace around Ruby’s. “See these? They are both very special to me. Yang’s was a gift from my sister, while Ruby’s is from my mother. I like them both very much.”

“Then why are you giving them to us?” Yang asked as she studied the medallion.

“For safe keeping.” Yang gave me a funny look before I continued. “I’d like you to hang onto those, keep them safe and sound until I come back. Because when I return, we’re going to trade. You’ll give me back my necklaces, and I’ll give you both something neat I got while I was away.”

“Really?!” Ruby exclaimed into my ear. “I want a cloak like momma’s! But red!”

"I want a pair of cool, boxing gloves! Yellow!”

I laughed, glad to see their happy faces once again.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised, smiling back at them. “Now are you going to let me up or am I going to be forced to have my boss talk to you about why I’m so late?”

 

I sat in a dark office, my feet on a very fine desk while I sat in an office chair that was definitely not mine. I was waiting patiently for its owner while I toyed with a nice looking pen.

It had been about a week since I left the Xaoi Long/Rose household. I had traveled for most of that time, only stopping to deliver the news to Ozpin and for the night whenever a found myself near a good bar. Or any bar really, I wasn’t that picky.

Most of the trip was either on foot or by bullhead, my wings not exactly good enough for the type of travel I needed to do. It was long, and I had terrified the piolet enough with the turbulence that I was probably going to need to find a new guy for the return trip. Either that or wait a month in this frozen city until I could fly across oceans again.

The office door opened, spilling light into the room. I didn’t bother to look up as a large, burly silhouette froze in the doorway as he caught sight of me. I watched out of the corner of my eyes as his arm moved slowly towards the light switch, flipping it on in order to illuminate the room.

“Nice office you got here,” I told the man as I watched the pen flip around my fingers. “If I knew being a headmaster and general got you a place like this, I might have actually gone to Atlas. Alright, probably not, but I’d have at least given it a second thought.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jacob Ironwood asked as he entered the room, shutting the door behind him. “I didn’t think Ozpin used you as his personal messenger pigeon.”

“He doesn’t. I’m not here on official business,” I replied. I stopped flipping the pen, letting it stop in my palm before looking up at him. “Though I _am_ here about a message. More specifically, a letter.”

“I don’t know what-“ he tried to say after a moment, but I didn’t give him a chance to finish.

I sat up quickly, slamming my hands into the desk.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Ironwood,” I said, my eyes narrowing at him. “You’re not very good at it.”

There was silence for a while, neither of us moving as we tested each other’s resolve. After about half a minute, he looked away from me for a moment, but that was all I needed to win. With a smirk I sat back down in his chair, pulling out my newly re-acquired flask from my coat and taking a swig.

“I know you never delivered it.” I held the flask in front of me as I looked at it. “All I want to know is why?”

I set the flask down on the table in order to lock eyes with the man yet again.

“Why did you break your word? Why didn’t you deliver it?”

He was quiet for a moment, as if he was deciding what he should say. After seeming to have come to a decision, he walked towards the desk, taking a seat in one of the chairs opposite me.

“Because you’re relationship with her was dangerous.” He said simply. I glared at him.

“You’re going to have to explain,” I told him flatly. “I have a hard time following the logic of self-righteous assholes.”

“Just look at yourself.” He gestured a hand towards me as he settled into the chair. “You and your sister just appeared in Beacon at age seventeen. You’d never attended battle school, no listed home town, neither of you are even in any sort of record book before you became a student. Professor Ozpin seems to know your past but never discloses it when I ask.”

“Maybe that’s because it’s none of your damn business,” I hissed at him, but he continued regardless.

“The way you act makes me think you grew up in a nomadic bandit camp, among thieves and the morally corrupt.” He kept his eyes on me, obviously hoping for me to give him some sort of tell, but I refused. His frown deepened and he continued. “Yet despite that possibility, Ozpin lets you into his school with open arms and then lets you waltz into his inner circle just because your sister and partner were Maidens.”

“And you don’t think Oz should have trusted me,” I stated, no question in my voice.

“Not in the slightest.”

“That’s good to know, I’ll note that for next time,” I answered, taking another swig from my flask. “And while I’m taking notes, why don’t you tell me why else you think I’m ‘dangerous.’”

“You’re reckless, and immature,” he said almost immediately. “You pick fights with anyone you can, which puts anyone around you in danger. Just like your semblance.”

“I should have known this was about that,” I said with a groan. I leaned back in the office chair, taking a long drink from my flask. I had a feeling I was going to need its beautiful calming powers to avoid strangling this prick. “Somehow it’s always about that.”

“Just her being near you make her a target for every piece of misfortune in all of remnant. I had hoped you would have just disappeared like that sister of yours, but you’re harder to get rid of then I thought.”

“That’s because I’m not my sister,” I told him simply. “I may ‘disappear’ like her, but I’ll never stay away. I’m like a bad penny, I always turn back up.”

“You should have stayed away. She should have left you the second after graduation. Instead you forced me to act to keep her safe.”

“Who she spends her life with wasn’t something for you to decide.” I glared at him.

“My job is to protect the maidens, even if it’s from themselves,” he said meeting my glair with one of his own.

I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t regretting his decision back then, in fact he still thought it was a good one. He really thought he was protecting them by getting rid of my letter, yet that decision inevitably lead to her death. It made me think, if he could do something like this for their “own good”, then what else has he been doing for the same reasons?

With that thought, I nodded to myself, coming to a decision myself. I stuffed my almost empty flask into my pocket as I climbed to my feet.

“Well, it’s been fun,” I said, turning towards a large window and heading towards it. “I’ll let myself out.”

“Is that it?” he asked, sounding startled. “Just a few questions and then leave?”

“Yup, that’s it, for today anyways.” I looked behind me to see the flabbergasted general sitting in the chair. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you, or even physically fight you. Honestly, it’s not worth the legal drama that would ensue from maiming a high ranking military man.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Do you remember what I said to you after you promised to deliver my letter?” I asked, focusing back on the window. I opened it, letting the cold wind blow papers around the room like they were snowflakes. “I said something along the lines of ‘if this letter doesn’t make it I swear I’ll remove you from your post. That you’ll be disgraced by the military so badly that even your son won’t want to be seen near you.’”

“Y-you don’t have the power to do that,” he said, the nervousness making itself known in his voice. I grinned as I turned around to face him yet again.

“You said it yourself, I’m bad luck. Misfortune come to all surround me. And you know what Ironwood? I’m not going anywhere, for quite a while.” I watched as the color drained from his cheeks, making my grin widen. “And judging from your expression, just the faintest of accidents will tumble you to the ground. Can’t wait to see that.”

I spun back around, jumping up onto the windowsill, my feet dangling on either side. I stopped for a moment, another thought coming to mind.

“Hmm, on second thought, it might need a little help. Just a small push to get the ball rolling. But I don’t mind. Do you know why?” I glanced at him from my perch to see him speechless, so I answered anyways. “Because, general, unlike you I always keep my promises Have fun with the next few months, I’m sure it will be a blast, to say the least.”

With one last chuckle I let myself fall out the window, changing form mid fall before flying away.


End file.
